Hearts Alone
by adoreleo
Summary: STORY COMPLETE Leo, who is recovering from his heart attack, convinces Mallory to go away for Thanksgiving. But she has one condition. Someone needs to stay with him.
1. Part 1

Title: Hearts Alone (1/4)

By: adoreleo

Rating: For Part 1 is PG. Contains some strong language.

Characters: Leo, Margaret and Mallory

Spoilers: Anything up to and including Liftoff.

Disclaimer: The characters are from the NBC, WB, TV show The West Wing; they don't belong to me.

Beta, Brainstorming & Additional Ideas By: Lynn, who always goes above and beyond the call. THANKS!!!!

Feedback: Is greatly appreciated and motivates me to write more!

Author's Notes: I messed with the timeline and have Leo's heart attack occurring about two months before Thanksgiving. And obviously the nurse in this story is not the same one that is on the show.

* * *

Part 1

"Here you go Mr. McGarry," the somber faced nurse says, as she enters the living area of the hotel suite, carrying a small tray with meds and a glass of water perched on top of it.

"Thanks," Leo nods, taking the pills and quickly swallowing them. He watches the nurse walk away and rolls his eyes at her back.

Mallory gives him a face from the other end of the couch, 'Daddy, behave,' she mouths to him with a frown, but on the inside she's smiling. She's so happy to see some spark back in her father.

Leo heavily shrugs his shoulders, but quickly realizes that isn't a good thing to do as he grimaces in pain.

"Serves you right," Mallory says, but she quickly follows up with, "Daddy, are you okay?"

"Yeah," he breathes out slowly, putting a hand to his chest, "I'm fine. I just need to watch how I move sometimes," Leo admits as he silently wonders how much longer he's going to have pain in that area.

"You should be nice to her," Mallory tells her father.

"I am nice," Leo frowns. "She's just not very friendly," Leo informs his daughter.

"Right," Mallory quips.

"Look… I'm still your father young lady," Leo imparts, failing miserably at keeping the smile off his face.

Mallory smiles at her father, "Yeah, well you must be feeling better, because you never complained about her the first few weeks and now… that's all I've heard from you lately is how you can't wait for her to leave."

"Well… she's quirky," Leo says as he looks toward the extra bedroom where his nurse spends all of her time. "I don't know how many times I've told her to call me Leo," he lightly huffs, "and do you know that she even locks her door at night, like I'm any threat right now," Leo smirks.

"Daddy." Mallory rolls her eyes at her father. "You know, a lot of people say that Margaret's quirky and you don't seem to mind her," Mallory says in a soft voice. She's noticed lately how her father perks up whenever Margaret's name comes up in conversation.

"Who says that? Margaret's not quirky," Leo says suddenly getting very defensive about his assistant. "She's just… well it's just… that… who said that?"

Mallory smiles at her father. He's very protective of Margaret and always has been. He can say whatever he wants about her, but you'd better never say something even remotely negative about her, unless you want to have him in your face. She suspects that her father has a soft spot in his heart for his assistant, maybe even love, but she knows her father will never do anything about it. He probably thinks that he's too old for her or that it's an inappropriate work relationship. 'Well, he's lost the inappropriate reason now,' she quietly thinks to herself.

"Daddy, calm down. I didn't say anyone in particular said it, it's just something that's… well… it's just out there, is all," she smiles. "You know I love Margaret and I think she's wonderful."

"She's the best assistant I've ever had," Leo softly comments, trying unsuccessfully to keep any emotion out of his voice.

"Speaking of Margaret, I'm surprised I haven't run into her in the evenings over here. Has she been coming over after I leave?" Mallory's been so worried about her father, that's in only been in the past week or so that she's noticed that Margaret hasn't been over at her father's hotel.

"I've talked to her on the phone," he quickly lies, "and well… ya know CJ's been keeping her pretty busy and I'm sure that she has better things to do in her free time than to check up on me."

"It just seems strange to me, since Margaret has always taken…" Mallory's ringing cell phone interrupts their conversation, "Hello," Mallory answers after opening her cell phone. "Oh, hi Mom." She smiles softly to her father.

* * *

Leo gets up off the couch and slowly wanders into his bedroom. He doesn't want to listen to Mallory talk to his ex-wife. He sits down on his bed and thinks about Jenny. When they first separated, he'd hope that they would get back together, but he realized that after the shooting at the Newseum that probably wasn't going to happen. Jenny never even called to see if he was okay that dark day. So, he wasn't too surprised that she didn't call him after his heart attack, but it still hurt him that she didn't.

Leo still cares about what happens to Jenny, even if he's not in love with her anymore. There will always be a special place for her in his heart. He hasn't talked to Jenny in years, even though he'd told Mallory that her mother had called him and told him about her getting remarried. He just doesn't want Mallory to think badly of her mother.

Leo looks at the ring that is still on his finger. He wants to take it off, but it's been part of him for such a long time that he's just not able to remove it. It's just another reminder of who he used to be. He used to be a husband and now he used to be the Chief of Staff to the President of the United States. He feels like he's lost his identity.

* * *

Mallory is relieved when her father leaves the room, because she knows what the topic of conversation is going to be.

"Mallory, where are you? I've been calling all afternoon," the ex Mrs. McGarry asks.

"I'm at Daddy's," she informs her mother. "Why didn't you call my cell phone earlier, if you needed me?"

"Well, I thought that you might be out on a date and I didn't want to interrupt you."

Mallory shakes her head. She knows her mother knew where she'd be. It's the same place she's been every night for weeks now, with her dad. She knows that her mother is jealous of all the time she's been spending with her dad, but he needs her right now. "No," she heavy breathes out, "I'm not out on a date."

"Well, I was just calling to find out about Thanksgiving. You're still flying up here, right?"

"Mom, I already told you that I don't think I should leave Daddy just yet."

"Mallory, I know it's only been a few weeks since your father's heart attack. But you said yourself, that he's doing great. I don't see why you still can't come up here for Thanksgiving," her mother whines into the phone.

"Mother, I know what I said. It's… just I don't want to leave him alone this year," she says in a low voice, trying to keep her side of the conversation from her father. She doesn't want him to feel guilty about her staying.

"Your father chose this life and he's used to being alone on holidays," Jenny bitterly tells her daughter.

"Mother," Mallory says in an exasperated voice. She's getting tired of having this same conversation with her mother.

"If you don't come here for Thanksgiving, I won't get to see you until Spring Break. Remember, Howard and I are going abroad for Christmas."

Mallory sighs; she really does want to see her Mother. They usually get along fine, as long as they avoid the subject of her father. "Well, maybe I can get someone to stay with Daddy."

"Didn't you tell me that a nurse is staying there at his hotel with him?"

"Yes, right now there is, but her last day is this coming Wednesday," she informs her mother. Mallory doesn't tell her that the doctor told them last week that there's no reason why he can't be on his own from now on.

"Well, hire her to stay longer."

"She already has plans for Thanksgiving," Mallory doesn't want to have to explain everything to her mother.

"Have your father offer her more money. Or has living in that hotel for the past five and a half years dried up his funds," she snidely remarks. "I don't know why he couldn't get at least an apartment like most normal divorced men."

"Mother," Mallory huffs back. She's growing tired of her mother's digs at her father.

"Why doesn't he get that lawyer that he's seeing to come stay with him?"

"Mother, you know he hasn't seen Jordan in almost a year," she quickly points out. Mallory didn't dislike Jordan, but she never really thought that they made a good couple.

"Oh yeah, I guess I forgot. I'm sure she got tired of spending too many lonely nights waiting for him."

"Mother, please," Mallory complains, as she wonders if her mother will ever let go of the bitterness towards her father. Mallory wants to tell her that it was her father that broke it off with Jordan, but she doesn't think it's any of her mother's business.

"Oh all right. So… are you coming up here for Thanksgiving or not?" her mother demands.

"I'll think about it. Let me see if I can find someone to stay with Daddy." Mallory has someone in mind, but isn't going to tell her mother who she's thinking about.

"I guess he could always get Margaret to come sty with him. That poor woman has put up with your father for years. But, it's not like she could hold a job anywhere else, she's an odd woman."

"Just a second," Mallory says as she quickly jumps up off the couch and heads for the balcony. She doesn't want her father to hear what she's about to say. She knows that it would hurt him deeply if he knew that her mother was bad mouthing his Margaret. "Margaret's a wonderful person who's supported Daddy for over fifteen years. That office runs like a Swiss watch because of her. Any high-ranking official would love to have her as an assistant. And you're right, I'm sure she would be very willing to come stay with Daddy, she's who I had in mind to ask anyway," Mallory informs her mother.

"Mallory, I didn't mean that I didn't like her it's just that well she's followed your father around for years it's really sad when you think about it."

"Daddy asked her to come with him each time he changed jobs."

"He did," she says with some anger in her voice.

"Yes, he did."

"Well, he never told me that," she quickly blurts out, and then quickly tries to regain her composure. She doesn't want Mallory to know that she's always been jealous of Margaret. "But, I guess I shouldn't be too surprised, he never was very big about sharing things dealing with his work."

Mallory bites her tongue. She knows that whatever she says now, will just make things worse. "Mother, I need to go. I'll see if I can get someone to stay."

"Why doesn't your father just spend Thanksgiving with Jed and Abbey?" Jenny snidely remarks. She's still upset with them for not attending her wedding.

"They're going away for Thanksgiving," she tells her mom. She doesn't want to get into a discussion about the fact that they're going to Camp David and that she thinks her father isn't ready to go back there just yet. She knows that he's been affected by his heart attack in the woods, a lot more than he's letting on. She also suspects that he doesn't want to be by himself at night, because when he found out that his nurse was leaving soon, Mallory could have sworn she saw panic in her father's eyes. That's when Mallory decided to cancel visiting her mother and told her father she was going to stay with him. He didn't put up much of a fight about it, so she's pretty sure she's right about her theory.

"So, isn't he well enough to travel."

"Yes, but he doesn't want to go."

"Aren't they getting a long? Or does Jed no longer have time for your father, since he can't work for him anymore?"

"They're fine Mother. Daddy just doesn't feel like being around a bunch of people right now. And… I'm sure you heard what the President said at the Press Conference, about Daddy always be a vital part of the Administration."

"I'm sure he will. He's not going to quit until it kills him."

"Mother, it almost did and I don't like what you just said."

"I'm sorry, Mallory. You're right. It's just that… after all your father put us though over the years, it hurts me that you'd rather be with him than me on Thanksgiving."

"It's not a contest, Mother. Daddy needs me right now."

"Yes, and what about all the times we needed him and he wasn't there for us."

"Mother, I'm not doing this right now. I'll call you soon and let you know about Thanksgiving."

"Okay." Jenny says as she quickly hangs up the phone.

"Bye," Mallory says as she closes her cell phone and heads back into the living room.

* * *

After Leo hears Mallory walk out onto the balcony, he loudly sighs as he gets up, walks back out into the living area and sits down on the couch. He's overheard some of his daughter's conversation with his ex-wife and hates that Mallory is caught in the middle of them. He looks up at her with knowing eyes when she renters the room, "Hey Baby," he greets her with a warm smile and pats a spot on the couch next to him.

Mallory walks over, sits down beside her father and gently rests her head against his shoulder, careful not to lean on him too much. "I love you Daddy," she sweetly says.

"I love you too, Baby and I want you to go spend Thanksgiving with your Mother like you had planned to do this year." Leo says, as he takes a hold of her hand and squeezes it.

"Daddy, I really don't want to leave you alone. I…"

"Mallory, I'm fine. I want you to go," he says with a smile.

"I don't want you to be alone," she repeats.

"Mallory, I live in a hotel. There's always plenty of people around."

"That's not what I meant and you know it."

"Look… it's not the first holiday I've spent alone."

"I know Daddy, but it's just… I don't want you lonely or alone anymore."

"So… are you telling me you're going to try and set me up with someone, now too," he smiles. "Cause you'll have to check with Abbey about that, since she thinks that's her job." He smirks.

"Daddy, I would never do that," she says with a sly grin.

"Right," Leo grins. "Call your mom and tell her that you'll be there for Thanksgiving. I know you already have your ticket."

"I don't know… I'm kind of mad at her right now." She admits to her father.

"Mal, your mother is just upset that she might not get to see ya. Don't pay any attention to things she might say. She's just been hurt to many times by me… and well… I guess she deserves to feel the way she does."

"Daddy, she doesn't have the right to say…"

"Shh… Baby, it's okay. I want ya to go see your Mom. You haven't visited her since she got… remarried and moved to Boston," Leo tells her, as he places a kiss in her hair.

"What about you?"

"I'll be fine."

"I don't know," she sighs.

"Look… you have to leave me alone sometime and besides, I'm not going anywhere," he reassures her.

"I know. It's just…"

"Mallory, I'm sorry I scared ya," Leo whispers. "But, you can't spend every single day or night here with me. You have your own life."

Mallory turns her head and looks at her father. She knows he's putting up a brave front, "You just want to get your nurse all to yourself these next few nights, don't you?" She smirks.

"Yeah," he growls. "Ya saw right through me."

Mallory looks at her watch, "Hey it's getting late. We need to leave now if we're going to get our walk in before it gets dark," Mallory says, as she gets up from the couch.

"Can't we skip it today? It's Sunday and I was thinking that…"

"No, we can't," Mallory interrupts her father. "You heard what the doctor said." Mallory gives her father a look.

"Yeah… and I'm really beginning to regret taking you there with me," Leo grumbles.

"Like you had a choice," Mallory smirks.

"You do remember that I'm the parent, right?"

"Yes, Daddy whatever you say," she smiles.

"Okay, just checking," Leo says, as he walks over to get a light jacket out of the closet.

Mallory takes the jacket from his hand and helps her father put it on. She walks over to the door, grabs her jacket off the chair and turns, "We're going for a walk now. Back in a few," she calls to her father's nurse. Mallory hears a muffled acknowledgement from behind the extra bedroom door.

* * *

Leo loops his arm with Mallory's after they step out of the hotel and head down to the park. He thinks about what he needs to tell her. He wants Mallory to start living her life the way she did before. He's not so sure that he's ready to be alone at night, but he's not about to admit that to her or have it impact her any more. "Mallory, I know you had a life before my heart attack. I don't want ya to think that you have to come over everyday."

"Am I boring you?" Mallory smiles. "I guess it can't be too much fun watching me grade papers." She's been expecting this lecture for some time now, especially after his earlier comments in his hotel room today.

"No and I love seeing ya. But, I just don't want ya to put your life on hold because of me," He informs her.

"Daddy, I'm enjoying spending time with you. I do wish that the circumstances were different, but I really do like seeing you everyday," she squeezes her father's arm as they enter the park.

"I do too, but don't you have a boyfriend?"

"Daddy," she laughs. "You know I'm not involved with anyone right now."

"Well… you should be."

"Okay, who are you and what have you done with my father?" She smirks.

"Mallory," Leo growls.

"Where's the person who scrutinizes all of my boyfriends and finds faults with every single guy I've ever gone out with?"

"He had a heart attack," Leo's tone turns serious, "And he doesn't want his daughter to be… alone… like him."

Her father's honesty scares her. She knows that he's been down since his heart attack, but now she understands part of the reason why. Mallory stops, turns towards her father and gently hugs him, "Daddy, I love you and one of these days, we'll both will find someone to love. Who knows, we might have already meet them and just don't realize it yet."

"Yeah," Leo quietly responds, closing his eyes and thinking about a certain red headed assistant. He eventually drags his thoughts from Margaret, laces his arm with his daughter's and they continue their walk though the park.

TBC Part 2


	2. Part 2

Title: Hearts Alone (2/4)

By: adoreleo

Rating: For Part2 is PG. Contains some strong language.

Characters: Leo, Margaret and Mallory

Spoilers: Anything up to and including Liftoff.

Disclaimer: The characters are from the NBC, WB, TV show The West Wing; they don't belong to me.

Beta, Brainstorming & Additional Ideas By: Lynn, who always goes above and beyond the call. THANKS!!!!

Feedback: Is greatly appreciated and motivates me to write more!

Author's Notes: I messed with the timeline and have Leo's heart attack occurring about two months before Thanksgiving. And obviously the nurse in this story is not the same one that is on the show.

* * *

Part 2

Monday

Mallory gets up out of bed, makes herself some coffee, sits down on her couch and then calls her father's old office. She's surprised when Margaret doesn't answer and leaves a message for her to call her at home. Mallory is hoping to go to lunch with her today, since she doesn't have to teach school.

Mallory spends the rest of the morning catching up on some neglected housework. She doesn't plan to go visit her dad until later this afternoon. She finishes most of what she wants to get done and sits down on the couch to relax for a little while. She looks at the clock, discoveries it's almost eleven and is surprised that she still hasn't heard from Margaret. She leans over, picks up the phone and dials that all so familiar number once again.

"Hello, CJ Cregg speaking." A hurried CJ says quickly, picking up the ringing phone on Margaret's desk.

"Hey CJ, it's Mallory," she's somewhat surprised that Margaret didn't answer the phone.

"Hi Mallory. How's your dad doing?" CJ asks, as she leans against her assistant's desk.

"Getting stronger everyday. Thanks for asking."

"Tell him I said hey and I wish I could stop by to visit more often but…" CJ tries to explain.

"CJ, he knows. Don't worry about it." Mallory says, knowing that her new job as Chief of Staff keeps her very busy. That's one thing about this whole situation that Mallory doesn't miss. She loves that she now gets to see her father any time she wants to.

CJ laughs at Mallory's use of one of her father's patented phrases. "Okay, so what's up?" CJ says, looking at her watch. She had been on her way out of the office to a meeting when the phone rang. She doesn't want to rush off the phone, but she doesn't want to any further behind in schedule, either.

"I was wanting to talk with Margaret about something, maybe even meet her for lunch today, if she's available. I called earlier and left a message this morning, but she hasn't returned it yet. Are you more of a slave driver than my Dad was," Mallory laughs nervously.

"Gosh, I sure hope not," CJ jokingly comments. She still can't believe how Leo kept on top of everything.

"It's just not like her to not return my call," Mallory replies.

"Yeah, that doesn't sound like her at all. She's had… well she's not really seemed herself lately. Not that I'm any expert on her, but I just figured that she's having trouble adjusting to me."

"CJ, I don't think it's that." Mallory replies. She has her own idea as to what's bothering Margaret.

"Well, she does seem a little distracted. I've just assumed that it revolves around your dad. The heart attack and his resignation as Chief of Staff have hit her a lot harder than she's willing to admit."

"Yeah, I think there's a lot of that going around," Mallory agrees.

"Don't get me wrong Mallory. I mean she is wonderful at her job and she keeps this office and me running on time. I could never have done this without her, but she seems a little lost sometimes, mostly when she's tired and well…I think she just misses your Dad," CJ informs her sadly. She decides not to tell her that she found Margaret crying last week at her desk and that she refused to talk about why she was upset.

"She's amazing, there's no doubt about that," Mallory pauses, thinking about how to continue. "I think you're right about her missing my dad, but… I don't think she's been by to visit him since he got home from the hospital and that's definitely not like Margaret."

"You're kidding," CJ says in a shocked voice. "You know she talks about him all the time, so… I just assumed that she was visiting him."

"I did too. It didn't even dawn on me until last week that I hadn't seen her around. I feel terrible about not realizing it sooner, but it's just that I've been so worried about Daddy."

"Mallory, you have no reason to feel bad. You've had a lot going on." CJ knows that Mallory has been spending most of her free time with her father. She's heard Leo teasingly complain about it on the phone when she's called to talk with him about a couple of work related items.

"Yeah, I guess." Mallory still feels guilty for no catching on sooner.

"Mallory, I'm sorry, but I really do need to run to this dumb meeting. I don't know how your father ever put up with half the stuff he did."

"CJ, before you go, I need a favor. My mom is being adamant about me visiting her this Thanksgiving, but I don't feel comfortable about leaving Daddy alone."

"What about his nurse?" CJ asks with a frown. The couple of times that she's been over to visit Leo, his nurse was not very friendly.

"The nurse's last day is Wednesday and I was going to ask Margaret if she would come stay with him. That is… if she has the time."

"Mallory, say no more. I'm going to make sure she takes the time off so that she can stay with Leo."

"Thanks, CJ. This means a lot to me," Mallory sighs. "Now if I can just get a hold of her on the phone."

"Well… when I see Margaret I'll tell her to give you a call. She should be back soon… oh wait just a second, here she is now." CJ cups her hand over the phone. "It's Mallory."

"Is Leo okay?" Margaret asks in a panic, as she rushes over and extends a hand to take the phone.

"Yes, he's fine. She just needs to talk with you," CJ smiles as she hands over the phone. "Margaret, I need to get to my meeting in the Mural Room." She informs her as she walks out the door.

"Hey Mal. How are you?" Margaret nods her head at CJ, as she moves behind her desk and sits down. She hasn't talked to Leo's daughter since the first week after he got out of the hospital.

"I'm fine. And you?"

"I'm… okay," Margaret lies. She wants to ask about Leo, but she's afraid that her voice will give her away. She's been having a hard time lately controlling her emotions here at work. This is the longest she's ever gone without seeing Leo since he was in rehab. At least then, she'd talk to him every couple days or so, and it also helped that she didn't have romantic feelings for him back then.

"You know, you can ask me about how he's doing." Mallory softly asks after Margaret's silent pause.

"Mal," Margaret sighs.

"He's fine. I little grumpy sometimes, but he's getting stronger everyday. He can't wait to get back to the White House." Mallory isn't sure how she really feels about her dad going back to work there. She hopes that he's learned his lesson and will slow down.

"So it's true," a worried Margaret says. "I've heard rumors that he's coming back. Do you think that's wise that he come back to work here?" She doesn't know what's going to happen then. Will she stay with CJ or work for Leo. She's worried that Leo may not even need her then.

"Like I could stop him from going back," Mallory sighs. "Margaret, haven't you talked with him?"

"I umm… didn't want to bother him." She says, as she nervously twists some hair above her ear between her fingers.

"Margaret, it's no bother and I know he would love to hear from you." Mallory tries to convince her.

"Really, did he say… that?" Margaret's voice cracks.

"Yes," she lies. She knows her father will never come out and say it, but he misses her. "Oh and while we're on the subject, Daddy and I need a huge favor."

"What?" She says quickly.

"Do you have plans for Thanksgiving?" Mallory asks and then holds her breath a little, waiting for an answer.

"Well, I'm supposed to go over to Carol's apartment. A bunch of the assistants are going to be there." Margaret explains.

"Oh," Mallory lets out her held breath and frowns disappointedly.

"What do you need?"

"No, that's okay Margaret. Don't… worry about it." Mallory says in a slightly dismayed voice. She'll just have to call her mom and tell her she can't come, because she doesn't know of anyone else to ask to stay with her dad.

"Mallory?"

"Well… I was suppose to go to my Mom's for Thanksgiving but I really don't want to leave Daddy here by himself."

"I thought he has a nurse to stay with him?"

"He does, but Wednesday is her last day. The doctor has cleared him to stay by himself. But… I just don't want to be out of town for the first few days that he's alone."

"I can spend the day with him," Margaret quickly blurts out, before her brain can stop her.

"Well… I kinda wanted you to stay with him though Saturday evening. I've already mentioned it to CJ and she's willing to give you the time off."

"Stay with Leo, overnight?" Margaret's office suddenly becomes very warm. "Well… I… umm I guess I could stay with him." Margaret knows that Mallory could probably use a break.

"Are you sure?"

"Mal, its not problem. I can come stay. It's not like I'm not used to spending every waking hour of the day with your father," she nervously laughs, trying to hide her panic.

"Oh thank you, Margaret. I'll tell Daddy he's going to have a houseguest. I just hope he doesn't bite my head off," Mallory snickers.

"Mallory, doesn't he know that you were going to ask me?" Margaret's voice is full of panic.

"No, not really. He told me to go and stop worrying about him. But I just can't do that yet."

"He's not going to be happy that you went behind his back. He doesn't like being handled." Margaret has witnessed many times that people have tried that and its blown up in their faces.

"Well that's just tough," Mallory says with some force, "because it's the only way I'm going to leave town."

"Mal, he may not even want me there. Have you thought of that?"

"Margaret, stop being silly. Daddy misses you."

"Mallory, did he actually say that or are you putting words in your father's mouth?" Margaret asks, trying not to get her hopes up. She's been in love with her boss for a few years now. At first, she dismissed it as a silly crush that assistants develop for their bosses, but with each passing year that she's worked for him it gotten harder and harder to deny.

"Margaret, you know Daddy never says anything about how he feels."

"Yeah, but still…"

"Margaret, don't worry about it. It's going to be fine. I'm going to call him as soon as I hang up."

"Okay, well let me know if it's not okay with him. Mal I hate to rush off, but I need to be going. CJ keeps me pretty busy." Her job has been twice as hard, since CJ is still new to her position.

"Okay, I'll call you later today and we can go over some things about Daddy's schedule that you'll need to know. Oh I almost forgot. Can you meet me for lunch today? We could talk about it then."

"I'd better not, especially since it looks like I'm going to be off work for a couple of days. Sorry."

"That's fine. I completely understand. I'll call you later tonight and we can go over it then."

"Okay, bye Mal. I'll talk with you tonight."

Mallory hangs up the phone and quickly dials her father's number before she loses her nerve. "Hi, Daddy."

"Hey, Baby."

"Well… I've got great news. I've decided to go visit Mom for Thanksgiving." Mallory informs her father.

"That's wonderful Mal," Leo says, although he feels a pang of despair about being by himself in his hotel room. Every since he had his heart attack in the woods and laid there for hours all alone, he really doesn't like the thought of being alone.

"And I have a surprise for you. Margaret's going to come stay with you while I'm gone." Mallory cringes slightly, waiting for her father's response.

"What?" He growls.

"Daddy, before you start in on me, let me just tell you that this is the only way I'm going to go away for Thanksgiving."

"Mallory, I'm sure that Margaret's got better things to do than to baby-sit me. Which by the way, I don't require. The doctor said I was doing great and didn't need a nurse anymore." Leo quickly points out.

"I know Daddy. But I don't feel right being out of town and this being the first time you're going to be alone."

"Mallory, I'm going to have to be on my own sometime," he says, even though he's not looking forward to it.

"I know you do, but I want to be around and be able to check on you. Daddy, please." Mallory implores.

"Okay," Leo lightly growls. He's always had a hard time telling her no when she uses that little girl voice on him. "I bet Margaret's just dreading this."

"No, she's not. At lest that's not the impression I got," Mallory adds with a smile. She wishes she could see the look on her father's face right now.

"Really," Leo perks up a little bit when he hears that. He didn't fully realize how much she meant to him until she wasn't around everyday. He's thought a lot about her lately. He's always held his feelings in check for her because of the boss assistant thing and the fact that he's at least fifteen years older than her. But, if he was to be honest with himself, he's had feelings for her for some time now. She's the real reason that he broke it off with Jordan. He couldn't see himself spending the rest of his life with her, but when it comes to Margaret, he can't imagine her not in his life, and these past few weeks without her around have been some of the loneliest and hardest times he can remember.

"Yeah, maybe you could bellow her names a few times. I'm sure she really misses that," Mallory laughs.

"Mallory."

"All right, I'll quit. I need to go anyway. I have to start getting ready to leave."

"Are you still flying out tomorrow afternoon?"

"Yeah, I am, but I'll be come visit you before I leave tomorrow."

"Mallory, you were over here for most of Sunday and you've been by everyday since I got home from the hospital."

"So, why stop a good thing now?" She laughs.

"Look… we're going to talk about this, in great detail, when you get back."

"Whatever, Daddy," she laughs. "I'll see you this afternoon. I'd hate to miss out on one of our walks."

"Mal, you don't need to come over today. You have plenty to do."

"I know I don't need to come over to visit, but I want to, so I'll see you this afternoon."

"Okay, bye Mal."

"Bye, Daddy. I love you."

I love you too, Baby." Leo says, and then hangs up the phone.

* * *

Tuesday

"Leo McGarry's office… no I mean… sorry… CJ Cregg's office," a flustered Margaret rolls her eyes and shakes her head at her mistake. She mentally chastises herself for making that mistake, yet once, again.

"Hey Margaret, I guess that would be a hard habit to break after all these years," Leo says, as a shiver of regret shoots though him. It's hard to not think of himself as Chief of Staff anymore.

"Leo… umm," Margaret can't tell him that the reason she answered the phone that way is because she hasn't been able to get him off her mind, especially since her talk with Mallory on Monday.

"Margaret, it's fine. I was just calling to tell you that you don't have to come over to stay this weekend. I'd imagine you have somewhere else that you'd like to be for Thanksgiving."

"No, not really. Besides, I promised Mallory."

"I don't need a babysitter," Leo growls.

"I'm sure you don't," Margaret calmly says, "but you and I both know it's the only way that Mallory's going to go out of town for a few days and I'm sure she can use a break."

"Mal left early this afternoon, so she won't know…"

"Oh… but I would and I'm not going back on my word to her," Margaret quickly informs him.

"Yeah, you're right," Leo sighs heavily. He really doesn't want to deceive his daughter either; it's just that he hates having to rely on others. "So… I guess you're stuck with me."

"Well… Leo McGarry, when you put it like that, how can I possibly resist?" Margaret smirks.

"That's not what… oh never mind," Leo breathes a deep breath.

"Okay," Margaret bobs her head on reflex.

"Well since you insist on coming over you might as well come over tomorrow night. If you'd like? My nurse is leaving early tomorrow afternoon to go spend Thanksgiving with her family."

"Leo, I was planning on working late tomorrow night since I won't be at work again until Monday."

"You don't have to work this weekend?" Leo hadn't planned on Margaret being around the whole time, not that he really minds, but his hotel room is only so big and he's worried that being around her for all that time that it will be hard to keep his feelings for her concealed.

"No, CJ is making me take the weekend off. I think Mallory and…" Margaret hesitates realizing her mistake.

"Damnit," Leo interrupts. He doesn't like being handled.

"Leo, please calm down. They both meant well."

"It's… just… well never mind," Leo tries to calm down. He hates that his health is impacting the daily running of the White House.

"Leo, you know, not much happens during the holiday break."

"Yeah," Leo relents. "Margaret, I still think you might as well just come over on Wednesday night." He really doesn't want to be alone in the hotel at night yet. During the day, he can distract himself with reading, watching CNN and working on his crosswords. But the nights are so long, and his mind races with random thoughts about the night of his heart attack.

"Leo, I really don't know how late I'll be and I don't want you waiting up for me." She says in a firm voice.

"Margaret, you still have a key to my room, don't ya?"

"Yeah," she replies.

"Then use it and just let yourself in tomorrow night. You've done it several times before."

"Yeah, but you weren't there."

"Don't worry about it. I'm getting used to people letting themselves in and out of my hotel room these past few weeks."

"Okay, but don't wait up for me. I could be quite late," she adamantly repeats.

"I won't," Leo lies. He has every intention of making sure she arrives at his hotel safely.

"Oh… do you need me to bring something to fix for Thanksgiving dinner?" Margaret asks as she mentally calculates how much time she'd need to get everything done and go grocery shopping too.

"Nah, the hotel is having a Thanksgiving dinner. Is that okay with you?"

"That's fine with me," Margaret says with smile.

"Okay, I probably should let you get back to work. Bye," he takes a deep breath and smiles to himself. 'She's going to be here tomorrow. I'm going to wait up for her even if I have to take a nap tomorrow afternoon,' he thinks to himself.

"Bye," Margaret says and then hangs up the phone. She sits at her desk for a few minutes worrying about staying with Leo and wondering how she's going to keep feelings under control around him. She breathes a heavy sigh, logs onto her computer and tries to get some work done.

TBC part 3


	3. Part 3

Title: Hearts Alone (3/?)

By: adoreleo

Rating: Part 3 is PG-13. Contains some very strong language.

Characters: Leo, Margaret, Mallory, CJ, Abbey and Jed

Spoilers: Anything up to and including Liftoff.

Disclaimer: The characters are from the NBC, WB, TV show The West Wing; they do not belong to me.

Beta, Brainstorming & Additional Ideas By: Lynn, who always goes beyond the call. THANKS!!!!

Feedback: Is greatly appreciated and motivates me to write more!

Author's Notes: I messed with the timeline and have Leo's heart attack occurring about two months before Thanksgiving. In addition, obviously the nurse in this story is not the same one that is on the show.

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Part 3

Wednesday

A stressed out Margaret wakes up at the sound of her squawking alarm and immediately smacks the snooze button for just a few more minutes of restless sleep. She was up late last night fretting about and packing for her impending stay with Leo. When the alarm buzzes again, she drags herself out of bed and heads for the shower. She tries to relax under the hot spray of the showerhead's spray, but her back is so tense from the nervous tension she has been feeling ever since she agreed to go stay with him.

Margaret steps out of the shower and exhales deeply, trying to calm herself, "Damnit, it's not like I've never stayed all night with Leo before," she frustratingly says aloud to herself. There were more than a few times on the campaign trail that she fell asleep in his room after working into the wee hours of the morning and of course it's occurred several times since they have been in the White House. However, this is different and Margaret is worried she will not be able to control her emotions or hide her feelings from Leo. It kills her to see him like this. She knows better than anyone does how he hates to be dependant on others.

During the first couple of days that Leo was in the hospital, she only left to go home, shower and change clothes. Even though she spent all of her time at the hospital, she was never able to force herself stay in Leo's room for any lengthy visits. Most of the time when she was in his room, he was sleeping. She would sit there in his darkened room and just watch him sleep. Watching his chest raise and fall with each labored breath. But, as soon as he started to wake up, she would quickly leave the room. He only caught her in his room, a few times and she's sure that with all the morphine he was on that he thankfully does not even remember most of what happened those first couple of days after surgery.

Margaret heads for her kitchen, makes some decaf, heats up a bowl of oatmeal in the microwave and sits down at her table. She leafs though the morning paper and tries to distract herself as she eats her breakfast. She softly smiles when she comes to the page with the crossword puzzle on it. She grabs a pen from the center of the table and starts to work the puzzle. After a few minutes of trying to solve the crossword, she looks at the clock in her kitchen and realizes it's time to leave for work. She walks out to the hallway, grabs her coat from the coat tree, picks up her bags and leaves her apartment.

----------

Leo wakes up without the aid of an alarm clock. Even though there is no reason for him to set one, he has never been one who could sleep late. Besides, he has slept more in the past few weeks, than he probably has in the past year. He lies in bed, on his back, for a few minutes, slowly moving his muscles, trying to work out the stiffness from his incisions on his chest and legs. Mornings are the hardest for him, after lying in bed all night, it takes awhile to be able to get up and move around without a lot of pain.

Leo finally makes his way slowly to the bathroom. He gets in the shower and enjoys the warm spray against his body. He smiles as he thinks about the day planned ahead of him. First, the President is stopping over to visit with him, much to the chagrin of the Secret Service, he bets. Secondly, his unfriendly full-time nurse will be permanently leaving. Thirdly, and probably the important thing occurring is that Margaret is going to come stay though the weekend with him.

Leo's still slightly concerned about being in close quarters with Margaret and not letting his feelings show, but he's very excited about seeing her. He has really missed her these past few weeks. He has missed her inane jokes, her constant hovering, her knowing smile, and most of all he's missed her penetrating eyes that seem to look into his soul and find the best in him.

Leo gets out of the shower, shaves, dresses and then heads to the dining table to eat his breakfast. He sits down and starts to work the crossword puzzle while he waits for his meal from room service. Leo has to catch himself from yelling for Margaret when he discovers that six across is wrong. He knows this always drives her crazy, but he thinks she secretly enjoys it whenever he finds a mistake.

Leo looks up at the door, when room service knocks on the door. He smiles when he sees his nurse's bags sitting by it. Leo watches his nurse answer the door and bring him his food, "Thank you."

"Mr. McGarry, if that's all. I think I will be going. My flight leaves in a couple of hours." She says, looking at her wristwatch.

"Okay and thanks for your help these past few weeks," Leo puts on his best smile.

"You're welcome Mr. McGarry, goodbye." She says, without any emotion, as she walks to the door, grabs her bags and leaves.

----------

"Abbey," Jed calls, as he walks into the bathroom.

"Yes," Abbey returns, as she applies the last of her makeup.

"I need you to do me a favor today, Sweet Knees," Jed says with a smile.

"And what's that Pumpkin?" She smirks.

"CJ came to see me late last night. She's worried about Margaret." Jed walks over and stands next to his wife.

Abbey turns and looks at her husband, "Margaret?"

"Yeah, she doesn't seem herself lately. It seems that Mallory talked CJ and she told CJ that Margaret hasn't been by to visit Leo since he left the hospital." Jed explains.

"That's doesn't sound like Margaret. She was at the hospital everyday, wasn't she?" Abbey asks and then thinks about it for a couple of seconds. "You know… come to think about it, she wasn't around much after Leo's first couple of days there."

"Yeah and I think she's avoiding me too. I wonder if she overheard us when… you know…"

"Jed, if Margaret overheard our conversation about you firing Leo, I think that you'd know it. I imagine she would have chewed you up one side and down the other."

"Yeah, that's what I figure, too." Jed knows that he would be in real trouble if Margaret finds out why Leo walked off into the woods in the first place.

"So, what's the favor you needed?"

"I'd like you to talk to Margaret. Find out what is going on. We owe it to Leo to take care of her."

"Okay, I'll stop by this morning. Aren't you going over to Leo's today?"

"Yeah, first thing this afternoon," Jed comments with a smile.

"It's been almost two weeks since you've seen him, hasn't it?"

"Yeah, Ron really doesn't like me schlepping over there all the time and we've also been a little busy around here." Jed hates that he has not gotten to visit him as often as he would like, but he knows there is not much that he can do about it.

"Jed, Leo understands," Abbey says softly. She knows how much her husband misses his best friend. "When I saw him yesterday, he looked much better."

"You went and saw him yesterday? Why didn't you tell me?" Jed jumps at her words.

"Jethro, calm down. I detoured on my way home yesterday evening and stopped by for a quick visit, and I would have told you, but you were in that marathon meeting and when you finally came to the Residence, I was asleep."

"You detoured. Now why can you go on a whim and I can barely schedule a weekly visit? Who's your lead agent? I need to get him to talk with Ron," Jed shakes his head in disgust.

"Will you get over it?"

"Maybe… So how was he?"

"He looks good," Abbey says as she reaches for a tissue to blot her lipstick.

"And?" Jed asks, noticing his wife's resistance in offering any more information.

"And nothing, he looks better than he did last time I saw him," Abbey says, as she walks out of the bathroom.

"Abbey, what aren't you telling me?"

"Jed… it's just… he seems… so …alone… more than I have ever noticed before," she softly says, looking at her husband with deep sadness in her eyes.

"I thought Mallory was there everyday."

"She is, but it's… I mean he's …alone…" Abbey adds trying to get Jed to understand.

"Oh," Jed softly says, as it finally sinks in. "Yeah, I… see your point. So, you're going to talk with Margaret?" He double checks with her.

"Yeah."

"Okay, anything you want me to tell Leo for you?" Jed asks.

"No, we had a very nice chat yesterday," she adds with a small smile.

"Okay, I'll see you later this afternoon. Oh, one thing I did forget to tell you. Margaret is going to be staying with Leo this weekend, while Mallory goes to her mother's house in Boston."

"I already knew that. Leo actually told me about it. As a matter a fact," Abbey turns her head sideways a little, "it's the only time Leo seemed to be… Hey you don't suppose that…"

"Abbey, don't go there." Jed warns.

"Okay, but you never know," Abbey says, as the wheels start to turn in that romantic head of hers.

"Yeah," Jed says, as he starts to think about some things that Leo has said in the past. "Bye." He tells his wife as he kisses her cheek.

"Bye," she returns his kiss, and then heads off to her office. She has a few things to take care of before she goes to visit Margaret.

----------

It has been a very hectic morning for Margaret at the White House. Everyone is trying to get things accomplished early so that they can get a head start on the holiday weekend. She finally gets two seconds to herself and hurries off to the break room to grab a cup of well-deserved coffee.

Margaret arrives back at her office, sits down and starts to sip her coffee. She is just starting to relax when she hears some footsteps approaching. She looks up to find the First Lady standing in front of her desk. "Mrs. Bartlet," Margaret squeaks out as she hurriedly jumps to her feet.

"Morning Margaret."

"Morning Ma'am," Margaret says, as she looks quickly at CJ's office and then back over to the First Lady. "CJ's at a meeting in the Roosevelt Room, Ma'am and won't be available until after ten."

"Margaret, please sit down," Abbey motions as she walks over to the visitor's chair beside Margaret's desk and takes a seat.

Margaret bobs her head and sits down. She's not used to Mrs. Bartlet stopping by and chatting with her, at least not for the past couple of years. There was a time when she would stop and visit a bit, before going on in to see Leo. However, with all that has happened, the First Lady rarely comes over to Leo's office anymore. Margaret also knows that they have seemed to make amends a few weeks before Leo's heart attack.

"Actually, I'm here to see you," Abbey professes with a smile.

"Me?" Margaret retorts with a surprised look.

"Yes Margaret, you. I haven't' seen much of you lately, and I thought I'd stop by and see how you're doing."

"I'm fine, Ma'am."

"Now, where have I heard that before?" Abbey softly laughs. "And you're no better than him at hiding the truth, I might add."

A shocked Margaret gives the First Lady a tight-lipped smile. 'How could she know,' she thinks to herself as her hands begin to fidget in her lap.

"Margaret," Abbey raises an eyebrow, "is everything all right? I mean, no of course it's not, but are you okay?"

"Yes, Ma'am," Margaret unpersuasively responds as she bobs her head and then stares at her hands in her lap. She desperately tries to hold back her emotions. She does not want to break down in front of Mrs. Bartlet.

"Well… I'm not convinced," Abbey purses her lips as she shakes her head. "I think you've spent way too much time with 'Mr. I'm fine'. Margaret, what's wrong?" Abbey benevolently asks, leaning closer towards her.

The kindness of the First Lady's voice gets to Margaret. She hesitates and then looks up, though watery eyes, at the First Lady. "Nothing's wrong," she tries her best to deny.

"Margaret, is it Leo?" Abbey guesses.

Margaret bobs her head, before she can stop herself.

"He's going to be fine."

"I know," Margaret sighs, "it's…"

"It's what?"

"Nothing, really. I'm just being silly."

"It's not silly to be worried about him. We all are." Abbey points out.

"Yeah," Margaret sighs.

"Well at least for the next few days, you won't have to be so worried about him." Abbey smiles.

"What do you mean?" Margaret's eyes widen.

"Margaret, I know you're going to stay with Leo for the next few days…" Abbey informs her.

"How do you know?" Margaret quickly interjects.

"CJ told Jed last night and then he told me. Also, something else was mentioned too." Abbey decides not to tell her that Leo was the one who actually told her.

"What?" Margaret cannot help but ask.

"That you haven't been yourself lately, and that you seem distracted, so Jed wanted me to check on you. He and I both know that Leo won't be happy if you're not being well looked after."

"Leo?"

"Yes, Leo. Margaret, do you want to talk with me about what's really wrong or is there someone else you'd rather talk to?"

"There's really… no one. I'm not even sure how to start or what to…" Margaret pauses, unsure if she should say anything about what she has been feeling.

"Margaret, it's understandable that you've been distracted and upset, but I think… that something else is going on too."

Margaret hesitates for a few seconds, and then it all comes spewing out, "It's all my fault. I suspected something was wrong with Leo, and I did not pursue it hard enough. I mean… I should have taken better care of him." Margaret can no longer hold back her tears, and they start to flow freely down her face. "I saw him eating antacids all the time and I even caught him holding his stomach a couple of times. I let him brush me off… I thought it was well… maybe an ulcer. I never even thought about it being his… heart."

"Margaret, I completely understand your guilt. There is a lot of that going around, but you and Jed are not to blame unlike… me… I am a doctor. I should have seen what was going on. I knew that Jed and Leo were…" Abbey quickly catches herself. She's sure that Margaret was aware that Leo and Jed weren't seeing eye to eye about the situation in Gaza, but she' not going to open up the topic.

"Leo's very good at hiding things," Margaret quickly says.

"I should have known something was seriously wrong when I caught him sleeping in his office, in the middle of the afternoon, one day. He looked so tired, so… I just didn't even think…" Abbey says as she gently shakes her head.

"When was that?" Margaret almost snaps. "I'm always here."

"The day Jed threw out the first pitch."

"Oh, I had a dentist appointment that afternoon and Leo made me go home after it. He said they would be at the game and there was no reason for me to come back to work afterwards. He'd have never let his guard down like that if I'd been around."

"No, probably not. He was quick to change the subject when I said something to him about it."

"Ma'am, Leo hid it from all of us I guess… but I still can't help but feel…"

"Margaret, I guess feeling guilty about it means that we care about him."

"Ma'am, why does the President feel guilty about Leo's heart attack?"

Abbey stares at Margaret and tries to figure out how best to respond. She finally tells her, "That's between Jed and Leo."

"Okay," Margaret responds with an uneasy feeling in her stomach.

"Margaret, why haven't you been visiting Leo?"

"Mallory and CJ have big mouths."

"They're just concerned about you. Jed and I are too"

"You all should be worrying about Leo, not me. Besides, I haven't had time."

"Somehow, I don't think that's true. The woman I know would move heaven and hell to visit Leo McGarry in the hospital or any other place. So, tell me. What's changed?"

"Nothing's changed."

"Margaret?"

"No really. I still feel the same way I did then," Margaret quickly says.

"Oh and how do you feel?" Abbey says as the light of understanding goes off in her head.

"I… care about him," Margaret softly says.

"We all do, but I suspect that you care differently about him."

"I don't know what you mean?"

"I think you do. I think that you… maybe… that you love him," Abbey's smile widens as she watches Margaret's face grow red.

"I… I…" Margaret stutters.

"Margaret, it's okay. I think it is wonderful. Do you think he feels the same way?"

"Why would he? What would he want with me? I'm a nobody."

"Margaret, don't sell yourself short."

"He couldn't possibly…"

"You know, a couple of years ago, Leo told Jed that he was fine, because he had you."

"Really?"

"Yes, he did. The more I think about it; the clearer it seems to me. I think you should say something to him."

"What? I couldn't."

"Well, you're going to spend the next few days with him. Maybe…"

"Don't remind me," Margaret breathes out.

"I really think you should consider telling him."

"When hell freezes over," Margaret quickly points out.

"Well… it just might this weekend," Abbey softly laughs.

"I…" Margaret blushes even more.

"You never know Margaret" Abbey says as she looks at the clock on the wall. "Well, I need to get back to my office. I have several things to do before we leave for Camp David."

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Think about what we've talked about," Abbey says, as she gets up.

"I'll give it all the attention it deserves."

Abbey walks over to the door, turns around, "Oh, and give Leo a kiss from me," she says with a smirk as she turns and quickly leaves.

"Right," Margaret mutters aloud, as she sits back down, stares at her computer and wonders what she's going to do.

----------

Wednesday Afternoon

Leo smiles at the thundering footsteps he hears in the hallway outside his hotel room. He gets up from the couch and walks over to the door. He reaches it just as the agent knocks, Leo opens the door and two Secret Service agents flood the room and begin the ritual. Once the room is secure, one agent goes out onto the balcony and the other one returns to the hallway to join his fellow agents.

"Leo," the President warmly says, as he steps though the door.

"Mr. President," Leo smiles in return.

"It's really good to see you, especially upright," Jed walks over to Leo, opens his arms and gently embraces his best friend. They hug each other for a few seconds.

Leo slowly pulls from his friend's arms; it's still a little uncomfortable holding his arms up that high for too long. "You too, Sir."

"Leo, what do I have to do to get you to call me Jed?"

"Sir, I will after you leave office," Leo informs him as his mind races back to the last time he called him by his name. Jed had not heard him that day in the tunnel. A day that Leo knew that he would probably always regret. He did not mean to say what he did, but there was no going back now.

"Okay," Jed nods. "You look better than you did last time I saw you," Jed tells him as he heads for the couch and takes a seat. He knows that Leo will not sit until he does.

"Well I should hope so, Sir. It's been a couple of weeks," Leo comments as he joins the President on the couch. The last time Jed had been to visit; he was having a painful day.

"How are you?"

"I'm fine, Sir."

"Leo… seriously, how are you feeling?" Jed asks with deep concern.

"I'm still a little sore, Sir. But, it's getting better everyday."

"And your strength?"

"It's… improving too, Sir."

"You're not lying to me?"

"No, Sir," Leo shakes his head.

"And your appetite?"

Leo gives him the 'how do you know that look,' "It appears that I've found it."

"CJ told me after her visit over here that you weren't eating much," Jed explains, after noticing Leo's expression.

"How's CJ doing?" Leo asks, trying to get the subject switched from him.

"She's doing good, but I would think you'd have already gotten the low down on how she's doing from Margaret. She can tell you probably better than me if CJ's doing okay."

"Yeah, I was just wondering what your opinion is, Sir." Leo lies.

"Oh… well, could it be that you haven't talked with Margaret lately?" Jed probes Leo slightly.

"What makes you think that?" Leo quickly shoots back at him.

"A little bird told me," Jed smiles at him.

"What little bird?"

"Well actually I heard it from two sources," Jed boasts.

"Did Margaret say something to you?" Leo's asks with great concern.

"No, Margaret makes herself pretty scarce around me. I think she blames me for your heart attack."

"Sir," Leo's says quietly. "I told no one about what happened before my heart attack and besides, it wasn't your fault. I…"

"Leo, you can say whatever you want," Jed's voice softens. "But I'll always wonder if I hadn't fired you…"

"Look… you firing me didn't cause my heart attack." Leo argues.

"Maybe, but it did make you wander out into the woods and…"

"Mr. President, I'm the one who walked out into those damn woods. I'm the one who chose to ignore the symptoms I was having for weeks. I'm the one who told you that my council was no longer of value to you. It's not your fault. It's…" Leo has to stop. He's breathing heavily from exerting himself too much. He takes some slow deep breaths trying to get his breathing and heart rate to drop back to normal.

"Leo?" Jed moves over towards Leo, reaches out and lays a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm... fine, I just got… too excited," he finally manages to breath out, as sweat beads up on his brow.

"Are you sure? Should I get call someone?" Jed asks with deep concern.

"Yes, I'm fine and no you don't need to call anyone," Leo says, his breathing almost back to normal.

"Okay then… but… I'm still sorry," Jed softly says, though sad eyes.

"Me too," Leo replies, dropping his eyes and then looking back up at his best friend.

"So, who's the little bird?" Leo asks, trying to get onto a different subject.

"Excuse me?" Jed gives his friend a puzzled look, as he moves back to where he was sitting before Leo's little episode.

"Your source, Sir."

"Oh that," Jed laughs.

"Yeah."

"Well, if you must know. I had a talk with Mallory, yesterday."

"She called you?" Leo asks with surprise in his voice.

"No, I called her late last night, after CJ told me that Margaret was coming over to stay with you, because Mallory was going to go visit her mother and spend a few days with her over the holiday weekend."

"I wish people would stop worrying about me, I'm fine," he quickly points out. "Mallory needs to get on with her life and stop mothering…"

"Leo, lots people are concerned and worried about you. Therefore, you need to let those who care about you… help you. It won't be forever," Jed conveys to his best friend.

"I… know… it's just… well I don't want to be dependent on… others." Leo counters as he shakes his head.

"Leo, whether you know it or not, you have been dependant on someone for years," Jed reminds him.

"Who?" Leo looks at Jed with a puzzled face.

"Margaret," Jed says with a warm smile.

A flushed Leo lowers his eyes and then looks back towards Jed. "Yeah… you're right. I'd be lost without her," Leo sincerely smiles.

"Leo, do you have something you'd like to share?" Jed asks, after noticing the change in Leo's face and demeanor.

"About what, Sir?"

"I think you know what," Jed lightly demands.

"Sir?"

"Is there something going on between you and a certain red haired assistant of yours?" Jed gently questions him with a big smile on his face.

"Sir, there is nothing… going on between Margaret, and myself," Leo says indignantly.

"Oh, but I think you're wrong. I think you're sweet on her," Jed teases.

"She's not candy, Sir."

"Leo, when are you going to learn you can't hide things from me? You like her, don't you?"

"Well of course, I like her. She's a very likable person," Leo quips.

"That's not what I meant and you know it," Jed whines, as he gets a little frustrated with him. "You're in love with her." He slowly points out.

"Sir," Leo looks around, as if he's checking to see if anyone heard what the President just implied.

"We're the only ones here, Leo. My agents are out in the hall and on the balcony," Jed motions with his hand. "Now, do you?"

"Do I what, Sir?" Leo breathes out, suddenly feeling very tired.

"Love her?"

"Yeah," Leo softly says, too tired to deny it any longer.

"Really?" Jed smiles, knowing he was right.

Leo nods his head.

"For how long?" Jed asks, surprised that Leo has actually admitted it.

"I really don't know exactly when, Sir," he sighs. "I've tried to ignore the way I feel for some time now, but out there in the… woods and afterwards, I've had time to do a lot of thinking…"

"Are you going to do something about it?"

"Sir… what the hell would Margaret want with an old man like me, especially now," Leo motions to his chest.

"I think… you might be surprised," Jed informs him.

"Sir…"

"So, Leo, do you really think she's stayed with you all these years because of the high civil servant pay?" Jed sarcastically says.

"Maybe she's like me and just wants to serve her country," Leo offers as he wearily rubs his forehead.

"Well, I'm sure that's part of it, but she doesn't have the nice hefty reserves to back her up, either." Jed quickly counters with a smile. He has always enjoyed teasing his friend about his wealth.

"Sir." Leo gives him that look. The one he always gives his friend when Jed brings up his prosperity.

"I would also like to point out that she's been distracted and sad at work and before you say anything else, that's also CJ's and Abbey's opinions, too."

"Abbey?"

"Yes, Abbey," he nods his head. "I had her talk with Margaret, this morning, before I came over here. I thought that maybe she would be more open with Abbey than myself."

"Is… she okay?" Leo's voice cracks, as he sits up a little straighter.

"Well, Abbey thinks that it's nothing that can't be cured by spending some time with you."

"With me?" Leo starches the spot just behind his ear.

"Yes, you. Margaret misses you."

"Then why hasn't she been by to visit?" He wonders aloud.

"That's something you need to talk with her about," Jed stands looking at his watch. "Leo, I'm sorry, but I need to go."

"I know, Sir." Leo carefully stands.

"I wish I could come by more often, but..."

"Mr. President, I completely understand," Leo reassures him.

"Well, I guess I'll call you after we get back from Camp David. Happy Thanksgiving," Jed reaches over and shakes Leo's hand.

"You too Sir, and say hi to Abbey and the girls for me," Leo squeezes his hand in return.

"I will," Jed says, heading for the door. "Oh, and give Margaret I kiss from me, for taking care of my best friend this weekend, and all the times in the past," Jed smirks as he scoots quickly through the door leaving Leo alone once again.

"I wish," Leo softly mutters to himself, as he slowly walks into his bedroom. He is a little worn out from the President's visit, plus he knows he needs to get some sleep, if he's going to wait up for Margaret tonight. He lies down on his bed and thinks about his recent conversation with his best friend. Leo closes his eyes and drifts off to sleep with a smile on his face from thoughts of him kissing Margaret.

----------

It's a little before nine o'clock on Wednesday evening, when CJ walks back into the outer office and finds a procrastinating Margaret moving things around on her desk. "Margaret, what are you still doing here?"

"Umm…" a startled Margaret stammers. "I was just…"

"You were just what?"

"Waiting for you to get back to see if you needed anything else before I leave for the weekend."

"Margaret, I told you to leave before I went down to the Situation Room. I told you I didn't need you to stay. It wasn't even serious enough to delay the President from leaving for Camp David."

"I always stayed until Leo…" Margaret abruptly stops and lowers her eyes. She feels guilty for constantly comparing Leo with CJ.

"Margaret, it's okay. You should leave now. Leo is probably waiting up for you and wondering why you're not there, yet," CJ gently prods her to leave.

"He better not be. I told him not to wait up for me," she says, as she gets up and walks over to her coat tree.

"Knowing him, I bet he is," CJ smiles.

"He shouldn't. He needs his rest," Margaret comments, as she grabs her purse and heads for the door.

"Night, Margaret and have a nice Thanksgiving," CJ calls after her.

"Night, you too," she says over her shoulder. Margaret quickens her pace to the exit. 'That man better not be waiting up for me,' she thinks to herself as she leaves the White House and heads for her car.

----------

CJ gathers her things and heads for the door. The ringing phone on her desk causes her to stop. She stares at it for a couple of seconds, willing it to stop ringing, but it doesn't work. She throws her stuff down on her desk and picks up the phone, "CJ Cregg," she slightly huffs into the phone.

"CJ, I'm sorry to bother you."

"Leo, you're never any bother," CJ's mood instantly changes for the better. She, like everyone else, really misses Leo. "What can I do for you?"

"Well, I was looking for Margaret. Is she still there?" Leo starts to pace.

"You just missed her. She left not more than five minutes ago," CJ informs him.

"Okay," Leo sighs in relief.

"Leo, is everything all right?"

"Yeah, I was just… making sure… well I guess I thought she would get off work sooner tonight," Leo walks over to his window, pulls back the drapes and looks down to the street, several floors below.

"I'm sorry Leo," she feels guilty about not making sure that Margaret left earlier tonight. "I was called down to the Situation Room, and I told her it wasn't necessary for her to stay. She said she was going to leave, so I was really surprised to still find her here when I got back."

"Yeah, she can be stubborn," Leo assures her. He has heard her 'I go when you go' sermon several times over the years.

"Well… I think the last person she worked for was a bad influence on her," CJ teases him.

"Yeah, you're probably right about that," Leo smiles, as he turns from the window and walks out into the living room area of his hotel suite.

"Leo, I hate to rush, but I was on my way out and it's been a long day today," CJ says regretfully.

"Sorry."

"No reason to be sorry. You know better than me how it is."

"Yeah. Okay, goodnight CJ," Leo says, as he sits down on the couch.

"Night, have a nice Thanksgiving," CJ says, relieved that he will not be alone for the holiday.

"You too," he says then hangs up the phone, as he lays his head back on the couch and continues to wait for his Margaret.

----------

Leo keeps looking at his watch. It has been over forty-five minutes since he talked with CJ. Margaret should have been thirty minutes ago. She is never late. All kinds of discouraging thoughts start rushing though his head. She's avoiding me. She only thinks of me as her boss. She really does not want to come over and spend time with an old man. She only agreed to stay out of pity.

"Damnit!! Where is she?" Leo mutters aloud as he gets up from the couch and starts to pace back and forth between the couch, and the window in his bedroom that overlooks the street next to the hotel garage entrance.

----------

Margaret parks her car in the parking garage of Leo's hotel and breathes a heavy sigh as she turns off the motor. She continues to sit there for a few minutes collecting her thoughts and waiting for her face to loose its puffiness. She has spent the last forty-five minutes or so, just driving around the streets of DC. Sometimes having a hard time seeing though the tears in her eyes. She still can't help but feel sad about Leo and his no longer being Chief of Staff, although she knows it's the best thing for him. But, the main reason for her tears is her unrequited love.

Margaret finally gets out of her car, grabs her bags from the trunk and makes her way to the elevator. She gets inside, rides it up to the top floor and then heads for Leo's door. She pulls the card key from her purse, inserts it and opens the door. She's surprised to see Leo sitting on the couch. "Leo, what are you still doing up?"

Leo looks up at from the couch and grouses, "Good evening, Margaret. Nice to see ya. Glad you could finally make it. I'm fine, how about you?"

"I'm okay," Margaret replies, overlooking his sarcastic comments. "Should you be up this late?" She asks, moving over to the couch.

"Margaret," Leo growls.

"Sorry," Margaret lowers her eyes.

"Margaret, where have you been?" Leo demands in a gruff voice.

"I was at… work. I told you I would be late." She moves over to the chair next to the couch and drops her coat and purse in it.

"Margaret, I called the White House and talked with CJ, and she told me she tried to get you to leave almost three hours ago."

"You were checking up on me? I told you I'd be late." Margaret forcefully informs him.

"I was… worried," Leo admits and then quickly asks, "Where were you for the past hour?"

"I forgot my bags and had to run home to get them," she quickly lies, not looking at him.

"Margaret, why I don't believe you? You never forget anything," he points out as he voice raises in volume.

"Well, you told me you weren't going to wait up and yet, here you are," her voice matches his in tone and level.

"What's that got to do with you being late?" Leo demands.

"Nothing, except you're supposed to be taking better care of yourself," she counters.

"I am," Leo huffs.

"I don't think staying up late and worrying about me is what you should be doing. Do you want to have another heart attack?" She retorts back.

"This is not going to cause me to have another heart attack," he angrily tells her. He has just about had it with everyone's concern and fretting.

"Leo, I failed you the first time. I knew something was wrong, but I let you convince me otherwise and damnit, that's not going to happen again!" Margaret yells back at him.

"I wish everyone would stop blaming themselves for my fucking heart attack," he crossly yells, as he jumps up from the couch. His movement is excessively fast for him, and he immediately pays for it. The pain from his incisions on his legs and chest make him sit right back down. Pain flashes across his face, and a grunt of pain slips unwillingly from his tightly pursed lips before he can stop it.

"Leo?" Margaret quickly moves to his side.

"I'm… fine. I'm not having another heart attack," Leo manages to get out between clenched teeth, holding a hand to his chest. "I just got… up too quickly."

"Are you sure?" Margaret's soft voice is full of concern.

"Yeah," Leo nods and relaxes a little as the pain starts subside a little. "I'm just stiff from sitting here."

"Leo I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get you upset," Margaret's voice is full of choked back tears. "I…"

"No, Margaret, I'm the one who's sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at ya," he says in a throaty voice. "It's just… I'm so dam… frustrated…"

"It's okay, Leo," she says, as she surprises herself by laying a hand on his knee.

Leo looks at Margaret's hand resting on his leg and then looks up at her though watery eyes, "I feel so… useless…"

"Leo, you're not useless."

"The smallest task tires me out."

"But, that will improve with time. Mallory said that you have been rapidly improving these past two weeks. Why else do you think the doctor okayed it for you to be on your own now?"

"I know, it's just not…"

"Fast enough for you," Margaret completes the sentence for him. "Well, Leo McGarry, it's time to learn that you're not superman, you have limits, but you're still the same brilliant man you were before and from what I hear, you're still going to be a vital part of the administration. It can't function as well without you. So many people need you there. I need you there," slips from her mouth before she can stop it.

"Why have you been… avoiding me, then?" Leo asks sadly, looking down at his hands.

"I've not been avoiding you, I've just… been busy. You know how demanding it can be at the White House."

"Yeah, well I used to," he says in a sad voice.

"And you will again one of these days."

"Yeah… maybe," he breathes out slowly, "but not as..."

"You're right, not as Chief of Staff. But, Leo… it's time to let someone else carry that heavy burden. You have done more than your fair share. It's time to concentrate on other areas of the administration and your quality of life outside the hallowed halls of the White House."

"You know I've had several job offers from some major companies to serve on their boards," Leo informs her.

"Are you thinking about taking one of them, overcoming back to the White House?" She asks with a heavy heart. She's already made up her mind to stay working for CJ, because she realizes that it's the best thing for the administration. It had been a hard choice for her to make, and she hasn't told Leo yet. But, she made the decision thinking that Leo would be returning to the White House sometime soon and at least she would get to see him whenever he is there.

"I was… at first, but I think my place is still in the White House," Leo doesn't tell her that he also thinks his place is with her.

"I think so too," Margaret softly returns. She wants to tell him that she can't imagine going this amount of time again without seeing him, but she's too afraid to tell him that.

They sit in silence, on the couch, for the next couple of minutes, both thinking about what has just happened tonight, and what it all might mean. Finally, Margaret decides to try to get Leo to go to bed. "Leo, I'm really tired. It's been a long few weeks for me, and I think that we should probably get to bed."

"I see you're trying to use child psychology on me, now. Well… I should tell ya that, Mallory tries that too, and it doesn't work very well on me," he smirks and then gives her a boyish grin.

"I'll keep that in mind," she smiles as she stands and offers a hand to Leo to help him up from the couch.

Leo looks at her hand and fights back a yawn, "I guess I'm a little more tired than I thought. But, I did take a long nap this afternoon, so that I could wait up for ya," he informs her, as he takes her hand and slowly stands.

"You napped?" Margaret raises her eyebrows.

"Yeah, I have found that I really enjoy napping in the afternoons," he shyly admits.

"I wish I could take naps in the afternoon, too."

"Well, maybe you'd like to join me tomorrow for an afternoon nap."

"Leo?"

"God Margaret," he says, shaking his head. "I didn't mean join me that way, I meant we both could nap at the same time, of course in separate rooms."

"Oh," Margaret tries to hide the disappointment in her voice. She thought there for a second he was inviting her into his bed, something that she has dreamed about for a long time. "I knew that, I was just…"

"Margaret," Leo interrupts her after he notices the disappointment in her face. At least he thinks he sees it. He inwardly smiles when he thinks that maybe Jed was right. He will have to keep testing the waters this weekend.

"Yes, Leo," She says, failing to let go of his hand after he stands.

"Nothing…" He finally says, after staring into her eyes for a few seconds.

"Are you okay," she involuntarily squeezes his hand.

"Yeah, I'm fine… but I should probably get to bed now," he regrettably divulges to her.

"Okay," she keeps a hold of his hand and they slowly walk to his bedroom.

Leo stops, once they get to the doorway, "Margaret, it's fine. I can take it from here, really."

"Are you sure? I don't mind helping," she offers with a smile.

"Yeah, I'll be okay. Why don't you go get ready for bed? I bet you can't wait to take those clothes off," he says without thinking and then feels his face get a little warm.

Margaret blushes, "Yeah... umm. I'll come back in and check on you in a few minutes. Make sure you're all right."

"I'll probably already be asleep."

"That's okay, I'll feel better if I check on you," she admits.

"Margaret you don't have to check on me every hour, I'm not on a feeding schedule," he smirks.

"Well... you should be... you're much too thin," she laughs, happy to be sharing some light moments with him after their confrontation a few minutes ago.

"Not you too with the eating," he softly grumbles. He will probably never tell her, but he has missed her taking care of him.

"Leo," she shakes her head back and forth, "did you really think I wouldn't bug you about your eating habits?"

"No, Margaret I guess I should have known better. You've been on me for years to eat more often, and to eat healthier," he says as he starts walking towards his bed, He stops and starts to take off his robe.

Margaret follows him into his room and without a word helps him take his off his robe. She folds it neatly and lays it on the wing-backed chair next to his bed. She steps around him, pulls back the comforter and blankets on his bed, "There you go."

"Thanks, Margaret," Leo says, as he carefully gets in bed. He is sore from the pacing and jumping up from the couch earlier tonight.

Margaret pulls the covers up over him, and then slightly hesitates next to his bed. She wants to touch him and let him know it's going to be all right, but she's afraid to show him any more emotion than she already has tonight. She still feels guilty about getting him so upset earlier, "Night, Leo."

"Night, Margaret," he whispers as he watches her walk away from his bed. He still feels guilty about yelling at her. "Margaret," he calls after her.

Margaret stops when she hears him call her name, "Yeah," she says as she turns around and finds his honeyed eyes intently staring at her.

Leo sits up a little in bed. "Margaret, about earlier. I really am sorry that I took out my frustrations on you…"

Margaret quickly interrupts him. "Leo, I'm the one who's sorry, I started on you as soon as I walked in the door."

"Look… you're the one person who's taken care of me for years, and you definitely didn't deserve my outburst. Thanks… for always being there for me," he softly says as he continues to stare at her.

"You're welcome, Leo," Margaret stands there for a few seconds, returning his gaze and then walks over to his bedside and gently lays a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Leo, I'm so glad you're okay," she then quickly turns to leave, but Leo softly grabs her hand.

"Margaret, I'm glad you were able to come stay with me," he lightly rubs his thumb over her hand. He is really enjoying the uncharacteristic intimacy that they are sharing.

"Yeah. Me, too," she whispers back, as she reluctantly pulls her hand from his and heads for the door. She turns off the lights and crosses the living area to her bedroom. The tears are falling long before she makes it to the sanctuary of her room. She closes the door and starts to sob.

Leo hears Margaret crying and wants to get up and go after her, but he decides against it. He does not want to upset her anymore tonight. He decides that maybe she just needs some time alone to gather herself. He lies down in his bed and thinks about what has transpired here tonight. He decides to wait for her to come check on him and fights to keep his eyes open. However, it is a battle he cannot win tonight and he unwilling succumbs to sleep.

----------

Margaret finally pulls herself together after her little meltdown and goes back out into the living room area, picks up her bags and drags them back to her bedroom. She throws them on her bed and starts to unpack. When she is done, she changes into her pajamas, grabs her toothbrush and toothpaste and heads for the bathroom beside the living room.

After Margaret is ready for bed, she quietly walks into Leo's bedroom and finds him soundly asleep. She walks over to his bedside and stares down at the man she has loved for years. Without hesitation, she bends over and places a tender kiss on his forehead. She smiles when she hears Leo breath out a contented sigh.

Margaret sits down in the chair next to his bed and watches him. It reminds her of the evenings she would watch him sleep in the hospital, but this time, he seems so peaceful. She lays her head against the back of the chair and gets a whiff of Leo's wonderful cologne from his robe. She presses her face against its softness and sighs. She continues to watch Leo sleep and quickly drifts off to sleep enjoying watching the soft raise and fall of his chest.

----------

Leo wakes up, lies in bed, fighting the urge to get up and go to the bathroom. He normally takes his water pill early enough so that this does not happen anymore, but he had been distracted by waiting for Margaret and did not take it as early as he normally would. He knows it's pointless, from past experience to try to ignore it, and so he slowly starts his ritual of moving around in bed, trying to loosen up his body, before he tries to get up. After a few moments, he slowly sits up and puts his feet on the floor. An 'umph' escapes his lips as he first stands and then he quickly shuffles off to the bathroom, not noticing the sleeping figure in the chair next to his bed.

Leo is a lot more awake when he walks back to his bed and jumps little when he discovers Margaret sleeping in his wing-backed chair. He smiles down at the sight of her, snuggled in his chair with her face resting on his robe. He hesitates, not sure whether he should wake her or not. He stands there and studies her face. She looks so peaceful and comfortable, so he decides to leave her there. He carefully pulls his robe from under her face and drapes it over her lanky body.

Leo smiles when Margaret sighs and snuggles further under his robe. Without really thinking about it, he rests his hand on the arm of the chair, slowly bends over and delicately kisses her cheek. He straightens up, walks over to his bed, and slowly crawls back in. He covers himself up and rolls on his side so he can watch Margaret sleep. He quickly drifts off with a huge smile on his face and happy thoughts about Margaret running though his head. 'Maybe she wants to be here after all,' he thinks happily to himself.

TBC in Part 4

Sincere thanks to those who have provided feedback. Hopefully, part 4 will find its way out of my head soon.


	4. Part 4

Part 4

Thursday

Margaret slowly wakes up and for a couple of seconds is not sure, where she is. Her eyes finally focus, and she sees Leo sleeping in the bed next to her. She smiles at the sight of him all curled up, lying on his side with a boyish look on his face. She stretches and discovers that somehow during the night, Leo's robe found its way over her. She blushes when she imagines him waking up, finding her there sleeping, and then covering her up with it.

After a couple of minutes of thinking about last night, Margaret forces herself out of the chair and makes her way to the bathroom off the living area of the suite. She stares at herself in the mirror, wondering if after last night, she's crazy to think that maybe she should tell Leo how she feels about him. She quickly dismisses the notion and heads for the bedroom that she was supposed to sleep in last night. She grabs her robe and heads for the kitchen. She can really use some coffee this morning after spending all night in that chair.

----------

Leo slowly wakes up, rolls over in bed and an achy throbbing pain resonates through his body when doing this simple task. A harsh, "damnit," slips from his pursed lips. Sleeping on his side, all last night, has proven to be an error in judgment on his part. But, he could not resist lying there and watching his Margaret sleep last night. He takes some deep breathes trying to relax and calm himself. Leo is surprised that Margaret has not bound into his bedroom room after his little outburst. She must have not heard him through the closed French doors of his bedroom.

Leo lies on his back, for a while, enjoying the aroma of Margaret's coffee and listening to the sounds of her moving about in his kitchen. He has really missed her and the coffee she makes. No one can make coffee as well as she can. He buys the same brand that she makes for him at the White House, but it never comes close to tasting as good as hers.

Leo eventually gets out of bed, walks into his private bathroom and stares at himself in the mirror after he is done using the... He thinks about last night, wondering if he should say something to Margaret today about how he feels about her. He shakes his head at his reflection and decides that she was probably just being nice to him last night. He walks back out into his bedroom; grabs his neatly folded robe from his chair and catches a whiff of Margaret's perfume on it. He smiles as he slips it on and heads for the living room.

Leo walks out of his bedroom and finds Margaret sitting at the dinning table, drinking coffee and reading the morning paper. "Morning, Margaret."

"Morning, Leo," she replies, looking up from the paper.

"Did you sleep okay?" Leo asks, keeping a straight face.

"Yes, I did as a matter of fact." She's still not sure if Leo covered her up or not last night.

"I was just wondering, cause Mallory always complains about that mattress in the extra bedroom being too soft," he smiles.

"No, it wasn't too soft," Margaret informs him, inwardly smiling since it appears that he didn't discover her sleeping in his room last night and cover her up with his incredible smelling robe.

"Good," Leo smiles, as he sits down in a chair at the table.

"Would you like some coffee?" Margaret asks, as she gets up with her empty cup in her hand.

"Yeah, that would be nice," he replies, watching her walk into the kitchen.

"Hey, I noticed this past week that the hotel restaurant has added stuffed French toast to their menu. So, do ya want me to order us some breakfast?" Leo knows how much she loves stuffed French toast.

"Oh, do they have strawberry topping, too?" She excitedly asks with a glowing smile, as she sets his coffee down in front of him.

"Yeah, I believe they do," Leo grins back at her; he cannot help but smile at how animated she gets about little things in life.

----------

Thirty minutes later, Leo and Margaret are sitting at the table, enjoying their breakfast. There is a comfortable silence between them. Both of them have been sneaking looks at one another throughout their breakfast and have somehow managed not to catch the each other at it.

"Would you like some more tomato juice?" Margaret asks, as she stands, grabs her glass and heads to the kitchen.

"Nah, I'm fine," Leo acknowledges, looking up from his crossword puzzle.

Margaret pours herself some more juice, sits back down and sighs. Leo attentively looks at her and smiles. "What?" She asks, feeling like his honeyed eyes are invading her soul.

"Nothing," he softly offers, as he goes back to working his puzzle.

Margaret sits there for a while watching him fill in the boxes. She has always loved watching him work on his crosswords. She does notice that he seems more relaxed this time while he's solving it. "So, I take it that six across is correct today," she smirks.

"Yeah," Leo returns, looking over the top of his glasses at her. "However, ten down is not," he calmly points out.

"And you're not ranting about it?" She says with some surprise in her voice.

"Nah, I gave that up," he smiles.

"Leo, I'm so proud of you," slips from her mouth and she instantly blushes at her comment.

"Thanks, Margaret" he replies, with an impish grin as he lowers his eyes back to his puzzle.

Margaret is grateful that Leo looks away from her and does not comment about her crimson facial color. She picks up her coffee, takes a sip and quickly steals another glance at him. Her mouth grows into a sweet smile when she sees the edges of his lips turned up into a boyish grin. 'God, he's got some of the best and sexiest smiles I've ever seen,' she thinks to herself. She dares not stare at him too long, so she goes back to pretending to read the paper, stealing glances whenever she feels its safe.

Leo continues to work on his crossword puzzle, but he's having a hard time concentrating on it. Normally, it takes him only thirty minutes or so to complete one, but today, it's been over an hour and he's still not finished. He has been too busy trying not to get caught staring at the beautiful red head across the breakfast table from him. Eventually, he looks up from his puzzle; "I thought we'd have an early meal this afternoon. How's that sound to you?"

"Sure, that sounds fine with me. Did you make a reservation at the hotel restaurant?"

"No… I thought we could just have it delivered here," he suggests. He'd thought about making a reservation, but decided that the two of them eating alone in his room was what he wanted to do, and after the nice time they've had at breakfast, he's convinced that he's made the right decision.

"Okay, are you sure? Don't you get tired of staying in your room all the time?" Margaret is a little concerned about Leo not wanting to leave his room. Mallory told her that she was having trouble getting her father to get out of his hotel room. Doctor appointments and walks are about the only times that Mallory has been able to get him out.

"Nah, up until a few weeks ago, I was rarely ever here," Leo quickly points out with a slight frown. "Besides, the past six years I've taken a lot of flack from a couple of red heads about wanting me to spend more time at my hotel room, instead of the White House. Now that I'm getting some quality time here, those same two people are on me to get out more often," he lightly smirks with a playful grin spreading across his face.

"Sorry," Margaret lowers her eyes, and finds an interesting spot of the table to stare at.

"Margaret, I just thought it would be more relaxing if we ate here," he explains. "If you're uncomfortable with that, we can eat downstairs."

"No, here's fine," she looks up at him.

"Good," Leo says, as he gets up from the table. "I'm going to go change out of these pajamas." He motions at his attire.

"Do you want to take your walk before or after we eat our Thanksgiving meal?" Margaret slightly winces, waiting for Leo's comeback. Mallory has warned her that he doesn't always want to go on his required daily walks.

"I think Mallory and I are going to have a nice little chat when she gets back," Leo grumbles.

"Leo, she's just looking out for you," Margaret reminds him.

"I think she's forgotten that I'm the parent."

"No, I think she just wants to keep you around for several more years. We all do," she softly adds, as her face shows deep concern.

"Okay," Leo breathes out, feeling bad about giving Margaret a hard time. "How about we walk before dinner."

"That sounds good to me."

"Okay… I umm… need to go do my… breathing thing and then change. Make yourself at home," he motions around the room with his hand, and then walks towards his bedroom.

"Leo, do you need any help?"

Leo stops and halfway turns, "No, but thanks." He walks into his bedroom, closes the door and mutters; "I'd be willing to do my breathing exercises a lot more often if only Margaret were my breath spirometer."

Margaret watches Leo as he walks into his bedroom and closes the door behind him. She gets up, cleans up the table, puts all the dishes on the server cart and then pushes it back out into the hallway. She wanders into her bedroom, checks the time and changes into a pair of jeans and a Bartlet for America sweatshirt. She walks out into the living room, grabs the remote control off the coffee table and curls up on one end of the couch.

A little later, Leo, dressed in Dockers and a cotton button down shirt, walks out into the living room and smiles when he sees Margaret curled up on the sofa watching TV. "Watching a parade, Margaret?'" Leo slightly smirks.

"It's not just a parade. It's the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade."

"Oh, forgive me," he grins, as he walks over and sits down on the opposite end of the couch.

"Leo, don't tell me you've never watched the Macy's Day Parade before?"

"No, I've seen some of it before, when a was a kid."

"It's not just for kids, Leo," she quickly points out.

"That's not what I meant." He grumbles.

"Well, I love this parade. I've watched it for years and one of these days I'm going to see it in person." She explains to him.

"Why haven't you?"

"Well…" she sighs. "For the past sixteen years, the person that I've worked only takes Thanksgiving Day off. So, I've not had the time to travel to New York to see it."

"You could have this year, if you weren't stuck here with me," Leo softly implies with a frown. He feels bad that she's given up her time off for him.

"Leo, I am not stuck with you and besides, you have to have a hotel reservation almost six months in advance for this weekend, and even if I could get one, I couldn't afford it. The chances of getting the government discount rate for that holiday weekend is slim to none." She logically explains.

"Well, maybe you and some of your friends could all go and split the cost," Leo offers. But inside his head, he thinks that he would love to take her there someday and do it right, with all the trimmings.

"Leo, what few friends I have, all work in the White House and we all can't get off the same weekend."

"That… won't always be the case," Leo softly says with regret showing in his voice, because he knows all too well that the time they have left in the White House is limited.

"You're right," she returns with a small frown. She wonders if this might be a good time to mention that she going to continue to work for CJ, even after Leo returns. She knows that it's the best thing for the administration, but it's killing her inside to be leaving him, even for a short time, they have left in the White House.

Leo notices the sudden down turn in Margaret's demeanor, "Margaret, what's wrong?"

"Leo, I've made a decision and it was really hard for me… but… I really think it's what I should do."

"Okay," Leo says, trying to stay calm. Something tells him he's not going to like what she's about to tell him.

"I've decided… that the best thing to do… oh Leo, this is in no way a reflection on you… but… I'm going to continue to work for CJ for the time we have left in the White House."

"Okay," is all that Leo can manage to say.

"It's… well you know how crazy that office can be and CJ really needs my help right now and…"

"Margaret, it's okay, really it is," he lies. 'I need you, too,' he thinks to himself.

"Leo, I'm sorry," she says, as tears start to flow down her face. She jumps up and flees to her bedroom. She's not sure if she's upset because she's not going to be working for Leo anymore, or the fact the Leo didn't even try to talk her out of it and make her stay with him.

"Great," Leo mutters, after Margaret shuts the bedroom door. He has never been very good at dealing with these sorts of things. He doesn't know if he should go after her or leave her alone. He knows what he wants to do. He wants to run after her, take her in his arms and let her know that he can't stand the thought of her not working for him. He never figured that he'd ever tell her he loves her, but at least he thought she'd always be working with him. Leo decides he can't stand it any longer, so he gets up and walks over to her closed door.

"Margaret, can I come in?" He asks, after knocking on the door.

"Leo… I'm fine," she calls between sobs.

"No you're not, please Margaret." His voice on the edge of begging.

Margaret slowly gets up from the bed, walks over to the door and opens it, "Leo, I'm sorry."

"Will you stop saying that, please."

"Okay," she bobs her head.

"Do ya wanta come out here and talk about it?" Leo motions towards the living room.

Margaret bobs her head again, walks over to the couch and sits down. Leo follows her and sits down next to her, "Margaret, I just want to tell ya that I'm going to miss you being my assistant and that… as much as I don't want to you go. I appreciate why you're doing it. I understand about making sacrifices for the good of the administration."

"Leo, I really have loved… working for you all these years and I never imagined not staying with you…" She lowers her eyes and stares at her hands folded on her lap, uncharacteristically still.

"I know Baby," slips from his mouth, "I …umm… mean Margaret."

Margaret looks over at Leo and smiles when she notices that his ears are tinged with red. "Leo, it's okay," she says as she lays a hand on his leg.

"Margaret, I'm supposed to be comforting you right now. I just wanted you to know I understand and that well… that you're the best assistant I've ever had, and I'm going to miss you."

"Thanks and it is just until the end of the administration, after that I'm yours again, if you'd like or if haven't replaced me… that is."

"Margaret, I'd like and you… can never be replaced," he softly tells her.

"Thanks, Leo. I feel the same way," she smiles. "You know I'm still going to be around because someone has to take care of you. Remind you when to eat and when it's time to go home. Speaking of which. How many hours do you plan on working in your new position?" She asks with a pointed look.

"Margaret," Leo growls.

"Well?" She asks, not backing down.

"I don't know for sure, but I'm only going to work half days to begin with."

"Normal people half days, or Leo McGarry half days," she smirks.

"Ya know, maybe I'm not going to miss you as much as I first thought," he mocks with a grin.

"Yes, you will and… so will I," she whispers as she regrettably withdraws her hand from his leg.

Leo instantly misses her hand, but knows that it was too good to last, "So ya wanta watch the rest of the parade with me?" He asks, as he moves a little closer to her, resting his shoulder against hers.

"Yes, Leo, I'd love to," she gently responds as she pulls her long legs up under her and relaxes against Leo's side, careful not to lean too hard against him.

Leo and Margaret continue to sit like this throughout the rest of the parade. Talking only when one of them sees a particular float or balloon that they like. Leo's thoughts keep returning to how he would like to spend next Thanksgiving with Margaret on the streets of New York watching the parade.

Margaret's thoughts are along the same line as Leo's and she wonders if he too might have feelings for her. She was surprised he offered his side to her and never moved from that position after they started watching the parade again.

After the parade is over, they continue to sit on the couch together for a few more minutes, neither of them wanting to move. Eventually, Leo reaches for the remote, when an annoying newscaster starts talking, and turns off the TV, "Now what?"

"Well, I guess we could go for a walk and get that out of the way for today," Margaret suggests.

"Or… we could just stay here…"

"Leo," Margaret interrupts. "Come on, it'll be fun," she informs him as she stands and offers him a hand. She knows he's probably stiff from sitting there for the past hour or so.

"Yeah, if you say so," he smirks, taking her hand.

"I do," she smiles.

"Whatever," he says, rolling his eyes. "Let me get my jacket," he tells her as he heads off to his room.

"Where's your coat?" Margaret asks him when he comes back into the room, as she is putting on hers.

"Margaret, I know you were looking forward to our little walk, but it's raining outside," he smiles.

"It is?" She asks, walking over to the balcony window to verify that it is raining.

"Margaret, don't ya believe me?" He feigns a hurt look.

"It's raining out. When did that start?" She wonders aloud.

"I told ya it was, and I don't know when it started cause somebody had me watching some parade on TV," he teases.

"It's not just a parade. I thought that we'd covered that already," she smirks.

"Sorry, my mistake," he bows a little towards her.

"What do you normally do when it's raining?" She asks, walking over to him.

"Nothing," he tries to convince her with an innocent look.

"Leo McGarry, do I need to call Mallory," she teases.

"No," he laughs. He knew he wasn't going to get out of walking, but it sure is fun to tease her.

"So?"

"When it's raining, we walk inside the hotel," he mocks.

"Well then, lets get going," she says, as she takes off her coat and lays it over the chair. "How long do we normally walk?"

"Outside it's been taking us about a total of thirty minutes to walk down to the park, make a lap around it and then back to the hotel."

"What about when you walk inside?"

"Normally we walk all the floors, but I never really timed it."

"Okay, well the sooner we get going…"

"The sooner we get back," he finishes for her.

"Right," she smiles.

"Yeah," he agrees, walking to the door, opening it for her and then following her out into the hallway.

----------

After they get back from their walk, Leo spends a long time in the shower thinking about Margaret and enjoying the effects of the warm spray on him. He is aching more than usual today, but between the pacing, and staying up later last night, and then spending the entire night on his side, he is not too surprised that he's this sore. He slowly turns and lets the water run on his back for a while. He's still upset that Margaret is not going to be working for him and he stands there worrying about it, when it suddenly hits him. One of the main reasons that has kept him from acting of his feelings before is that she worked for him. He suddenly feels a lot better, forgetting about the soreness he's had all morning. He gets a huge smile on his face as he turns back around, turns off the water and steps out of the shower.

Leo quickly dries himself and gets everything out of the medicine cabinet that he needs to perform his wound care. He looks at the steam-covered mirror and shakes his head. He knows that he won't be able to reach across the breadth of the vanity and wipe off the mirror. Clad only in his boxers, he gathers the necessary items and heads for the dresser in his bedroom.

Leo walks over to his bed, sits down and inspects his incisions on the inside of his thighs. They are almost completely healed and don't require treatment anymore, but he still needs to keep an eye on them for a while. After he's satisfied that they are still in good shape; he slips on his trousers and walks over to his dresser. He opens up the bottle of saline solution and immediately spills it, "Damnit to Hell," Leo loudly grumbles and then hurries into the bathroom to get a towel to clean up the mess he's made.

Margaret has been hovering by Leo's bedroom door for the past few minutes. She's worried because he has been in there for a long time. Mallory warned her that even though he won't admit it, he still needs help with certain daily tasks. She hears him cuss, "Leo, are you all right?" She asks, as she reaches for the doorknob.

After a couple of seconds, "Leo," she calls again. When he doesn't answer this time, she bounds into the room.

Leo is just walking back out of the bathroom. "Margaret?" Leo says, surprised to see her.

"Sorry, I umm... I heard ...and you didn't answer…" Margaret stammers out, trying not to stare at his scar. However, her curiosity wins out and she finds herself staring at it. Her face turns bright red, "I'm sorry…" and she quickly turns to leave.

"Margaret," Leo growls, as he takes a couple of steps towards her. "Its okay. You don't have to leave. I was just getting ready to do my wound care, and I spilled the saline solution."

Margaret glances over at the dresser, sees the spill, walks over to Leo, and takes the towel so that she can clean up the mess.

"Margaret, I was going to do that."

"I know, but I'm here to help, so…" She says, looking away from his bare chest.

"Margaret… it's okay," he tells her, noticing her look away from his chest. "I don't mind if you see my scar. I'm used to people looking at it."

"Yeah, but aren't they all doctors and nurses?"

"Yeah, but still. It's okay to be curious," he adds. "Is there anything you want to ask about it?" He is standing right next to her now. He wants her to be comfortable with his scar and surgery.

"What do you need the saline for?" She asks, afraid to look at him.

"I use it on my incision. I have to check them daily." He picks up some gauze, puts some saline on it, and shows her how he applies it.

"Is it healing okay?" She timidly asks.

"Yeah, it's just taking longer than most," he lightly sighs. "The doctor said it's because I was opened up for so long."

"Do you need any help?" She asks, intently watching him.

"No, I'm fine. I've been doing this for a while for by myself. Its one of the first things, the nurse taught me to do," he softly explains.

"What do you look for?" Margaret asks, as she watches him inspect his wound.

"Signs of infection."

"Are there any?" Her voice is full of concern.

"No," he gives her a quick smile, "it's fine."

"It looks like it still hurts a bit," she comments as she leans in closer. "Does it?"

Leo shrugs his shoulders, "Sometimes."

"Does it hurts right now?"

"No not really, it's a little more tender today, than normal. But, before you get all excited, it's just because I was more active than normal, last night."

"When does it normally hurt?"

"Fast movement or if extend my arms too far."

"Leo, you'll tell me the truth if it does start bothering you too much, right?" Mallory had given her some pain pills, in case her father needed them.

"Yeah, I will," he softly breathes out.

Leo finishes up, and Margaret takes the items back into the bathroom. When she comes back out, Leo is struggling with getting his t-shirt over his head. "Leo, do you need help?"

"Yeah," comes a muffled grumble from underneath the shirt.

She takes the shirt and helps him put it on, "Why didn't you wait for me?"

"Margaret, I'm not in kindergarten," he informs her.

"Really, then stop acting like it," she chides, as she walks over to his bed, picks up his hand tailored shirt and helps him slip it on him. Without even thinking, she starts to button it up for him.

Leo just stands there and enjoys the light touch of her fingers against his chest, "Thanks, Margaret," he whispers.

"You're welcome. Do you need my services for anything else right now," she asks, with a smile.

Leo has to bite his tongue. All kinds of thoughts rush through his head when she offers her services to him. "No, I can handle the rest," he tells her.

"Okay, then I guess I'll go finish getting ready." She starts to walk out of his bedroom.

"Margaret," he calls after her.

"Yes, Leo," she stops and turns to face him.

Leo walks over to her, quickly leans in, and places a delicate kiss on her cheek, "Thanks," he whispers in her ear.

"You're…welcome," Margaret replies, with a tender smile. "I'd better… umm… get ready…"

"Yeah, you said that already," he informs her.

"Yeah," she says, not moving.

"I need to get my shoes and tie on, still," he says, not sure if he should kiss her again or let her make the next move.

"Do you need any help with them?"

"Not, really."

"Okay, then I'll leave you alone," she says, then quickly gives him a kiss in return on the cheek.

"What was that for?" He asks, with a grin.

"Umm... Abbey said I should give you a kiss from her," she blushes.

"I've always thought Abbey had great ideas," he continues to smile.

"Me, too," she tells him, then turns and walks out of his bedroom.

Leo watches her leave, then goes over to the chair, sits down and puts on his shoes. He can't stop smiling. He still feels the kiss she gave him. 'Yeah, maybe she does like me,' he thinks to himself as he grabs his tie and puts it around his neck.

----------

Right before four in the afternoon, their meal arrives. Leo and Margaret sit down and enjoy their feast. They spend the whole time talking about each other's families. Leo shares some stories about his sisters and his mother. Margaret talks about her two older brothers and how they pretty much raised her after her parents died, when she was twelve. Leo feels bad that he never realized that both of her parents died when she was so young. He knows how it is to lose one parent, but two must have been devastating.

After dinner, they move into the living room and continue to talk while sitting on opposite ends of the couch. Leo is having a hard time keeping his eyes open. Eventually he gives up, and slides down in the corner of the couch and quickly falls asleep.

Margaret gets up gets an afghan and a pillow from her bedroom. She walks over to him and smiles at how young looking he seems, curled up on the couch asleep. She picks up his feet and moves them to rest on the couch. She places the pillow under his head and then covers him with the afghan. She goes into her bedroom, grabs a book out of her bag and comes back out to the living room. She sits down at the other end of the couch, and places Leo's feet in her lap. She needs to be near him and touching him right now. She hopes he doesn't mind.

Margaret reads her book for a while, but nods off after a few minutes of reading. Leo stirs a while later and smiles when he discovers he's covered up, and his feet are resting on Margaret's lap. He relaxes and sinks a little lower in the couch and falls asleep again.

Margaret wakes up later and doesn't want to disturb Leo by getting up so, she leans over, grabs the remote off the coffee table and turns on the TV. She doesn't find anything on that she wants to watch, so she mutes the volume and leaves it on a station that has a movie coming on soon that she wants to see. She picks up her book and starts reading again.

After a couple of hours of being asleep. Leo wakes up. "I didn't know you could read lips?"

Margaret smiles, "I didn't want to disturb you."

"What ya watching?"

"I'm not really watching this movie. I'm waiting for the one that comes on after this one."

"Okay, what movie are you waiting for?"

"It's a Wonderful Life," she says with a big smile. "It's my favorite Christmas movie. I just love James Stewart."

"Oh, I like that movie, too."

"You've watched a movie before?" She smirks.

"Yes, Margaret. I did have a life at one time, years ago," he informs her.

"I just bet you did. What… were you like twelve the last time you watched a movie?"

"Margaret," Leo growls.

"What did I say?" She laughs.

"If we're going to watch a long movie, I need to get up and well… go to the…"

"Okay," Margaret helps move his feet off her legs and stands.

Leo sits up slowly and slightly grimaces. Margaret steps quickly to his side, "Do you need some help?"

"Yeah," he replies taking her offered hand. He probably could have gotten up on his own, but he couldn't resist holding her hand again. After he stands, he holds her hand a couple of seconds longer than necessary. "Thanks," he tells her as he rubs his thumb over the back of her hand.

"My pleasure," she informs him, giving his hand a gentle squeeze.

"Margaret, I think I'm going to get into something more comfortable since we're going to sit out here watch a movie. Do you mind if I get into my pajamas?"

"No, Leo. I don't mind. I think I will too. If that's all right with you?"

"Yes, by all means get comfortable," he gives her a grin, lets go of her hand and starts for his bedroom. "How much time before the movie starts?" He calls back to her.

Margaret looks at her watch, "In about fifteen minutes."

"Good, that's plenty of time to get changed and make some popcorn," he informs her.

"Popcorn?" She asks, as she heads to her bedroom.

"Yes, Margaret. You can't very well watch a movie without popcorn," he enlightens her.

"Okay, sounds good to me. I'll make it as soon as I get changed," she offers.

"Margaret, I know how to make popcorn," he informs her.

"I didn't say you didn't. I just…"

"You gave up your holiday for me, so I think it's the least I can do."

"I didn't give up my holiday," she says as she walks over to him. "Leo, this has been one of the nicest Thanksgivings I've ever had. Thank you," she reaches out and runs her hand ever so slightly down his arm.

"Me too," he agrees, as he traps her hand against his arm and squeezes it. They stand there for a couple of seconds, staring at each other, both very unsure what to say or do next.

"Umm… we're going to miss the start of the movie if we don't hurry," Margaret softly says.

"Yeah," Leo whispers. "Meet ya back out here in a few," he says, as he lets go of her hand and turns to go to his bedroom.

Minutes later, Margaret is out in the kitchen, looking through the cupboards for the popcorn. She finds it and tosses it in the microwave. Next, she starts hunting for a bowl or something to put the popcorn in for them.

"I see you found the popcorn," Leo says, standing at the breakfast bar that separates the kitchen from the living area of his hotel suite.

"Yeah, but you only have one bowl large enough for the popcorn," she informs him.

"We'll just have to share."

"Okay," she says, as the timer goes off on the microwave. She takes out the bag, dumps its contents into the bowl and then follows Leo over to the couch.

Leo sits down in the corner of the couch, and Margaret sits down next to him. She hands him the bowl, "Here, so you won't have to reach." Leo places it on his lap and they both start to enjoy the popcorn and the movie that has just started.

Leo loves having her so close to him. He wishes that he could find the courage to say something to her about the way he feels. He's really enjoyed the time and the closeness that they have shared, today. He's starting to believe that maybe Margaret really does feel the same way about him that he feels about her.

Margaret can't keep her mind on the movie. She's enjoying the feel of Leo's body next to hers. She really meant it earlier when she told him that this had been a great Thanksgiving. She only wishes she could tell him how she feels about him. He's treated her so different today, and now she's starting to think that maybe, just maybe, he feels the same way about her.

----------

"Margaret, wake up. The movie's over," Leo whispers into her ear. She fell asleep against him about an hour ago.

"Hmm…" she sighs as she starts to wake up. "Did I fall asleep? What time is it?"

"It's after ten, time for bed sleepyhead," he softly laughs.

Margaret starts to wake up a little bit more, "Leo, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been leaning against you all this time. Why didn't you make me move off of you?" She says as she quickly moves, once she realizes that she's been halfway lying against him.

"I didn't mind," he softly admits. "Besides, you were keeping me warm," he grins.

"Well, still."

"Margaret it's okay."

"Here," she offers him a hand, after she stands up.

Leo keeps a hold of her hand as they head for his bedroom, just as he did last night. He really doesn't want to let go of her, but he has to so that he can get ready for bed. "Margaret, I need to brush my teeth… and stuff. I'll be out in a few," he tells her, as he lets go of her hand and walks towards his bathroom.

"Need any help," she calls after him.

Leo stops and turns to face her, "No, not since I was two," Leo smirks, causing Margaret's face to turn red.

"Leo McGarry, that's not what I meant and you know it," she quips, to his back as he closes the bathroom door. Margaret walks out of his bedroom and heads for the bathroom off the living room to get ready for bed, too.

Margaret is finished and back in Leo's bedroom, before he's done. Once he walks out into his bedroom, they go through the same routine as they did last night, she helps him with his robe, turns back the covers, covers him up and then sits down in the char next to his bed.

"Margaret, if you're going to sleep in here again tonight," Leo flashes her a huge grin. "At least be more comfortable and get in bed with me."

"Leo?" Margaret's eyes widen.

"Margaret, I can say with all honesty to ya that I'm not any type of a threat right now," 'although I wish I were' he adds inside his head. "Plus you can sleep on top of the covers if you want. There's an afghan on the top shelf in the closet."

Margaret's face is a very nice shade of crimson, "So you did get out of bed last night and cover me up."

"Yeah," Leo nods.

"Leo, why didn't you wake me up? Did you need something? I could have gotten it for you," Margaret rattles off.

"I do not think even you could have done what I needed to do last night," Leo tries to avoid the subject.

"Leo, I'm here to help. You have to let me," she pleads. "Haven't you learned your lesson that you can't do everything by yourself?" She lightly scolds.

"Okay, Margaret," he growls. "If I have to get up to go to the bathroom again tonight, I'll just wake you up and let you go for me," he smirks, as he gives her a devilish grin.

"Oh," she quickly blushes.

"Hey Margaret, that's a real nice shade of red there and I don't mean your hair," he laughs.

"You're not funny," she says, trying to stop blushing and from smiling, but she is unable to do either.

"Come on, Margaret," he says, as he pats the spot on the bed next to him. "This will be a lot more forgiving on your back. Come on, this bed is huge."

Margaret thinks about it for a couple of seconds and then concedes. She walks over to the closet, grabs the afghan and settles on top of the covers. Leo rolls over on his side, "Now, isn't this better than sleeping in that chair?"

"Yes, it is," she smiles.

"Okay, night Margaret," he says as he reaches over and pats her shoulder.

"Night, Leo," she replies, as she places her hand on his and squeezes it.

Leo leaves his hand on her shoulder, and Margaret doesn't pull away her hand either. They fall asleep this way, touching and thinking of what the future might hold for them if only they would tell the other how they feel.

TBC in part 5

_Feedback is greatly appreciated!_


	5. Part 5

Title: Hearts Alone (5/5)

By: adoreleo

Rating: PG-13. This part contains some strong language and some sexual innuendo.

Characters: Leo, Margaret, Mallory, CJ, Abbey and Jed

Spoilers: Anything up to and including Liftoff.

Disclaimer: The characters are from the NBC, WB, TV show The West Wing; they do not belong to me.

Beta and Brainstorming By: Lynn, who always goes beyond the call. THANKS!!!!

Feedback: Is greatly appreciated!

Author's Notes: I messed with the timeline and have Leo's heart attack occurring about two months before Thanksgiving. In addition, obviously the nurse in this story is not the same one that is on the show.

Part 5

Friday

When Leo awakens early the next morning, he finds his face covered with soft red hair and he smiles. He's really enjoying having Margaret's warm body curled up next to his. After he wakes up a little bit more, he realizes that the wonderful feelings in his lower region are not the lingering effects of a dream but are occurring because Margaret has an arm flung over his lower region. He's obviously enjoying having her arm resting on him down there from the reaction he's having. Leo's embarrassed and thrilled at the same time. He doesn't want her to find him in this condition, but he's pleased that he's having this reaction. This is the first time this has happened since his surgery that he can remember.

Leo carefully picks up Margaret's slender arm and places it on his chest. He arranges the covers over him so that his distension is no longer showing. He lays his head back on his pillow and tries to think pure thoughts to help his problem go away. He tenses when Margaret stirs next to him and breathes a sigh of relief when she doesn't wake.

Leo lies there for a few more minutes taking pleasure in the fact that Margaret is lying next to him. He doesn't want to get up, but his water pill can't be denied any longer. He slowly slips out from under her arm and quietly makes his way to the bathroom. When he comes back, he's surprised to find her still asleep. He thinks about making some coffee for them, but decides that climbing back into bed, and lying next to Margaret sounds a lot more enjoyable.

Leo slowly inches back into the bed, and lays Margaret's arm back on his chest. He smiles when he hears her let out a contented sigh as she snuggles closer against him. He closes his eyes and drifts back off to sleep as he pretends that this is how he spends every morning.

----------

It's after nine in the morning, and Leo has been awake for almost ten minutes. He's amazed that Margaret is still sleeping. He's just starting to get worried about her sleeping this late, when he feels Margaret stirring next to him, "Morning," he whispers into her hair, after he sees her eyes open.

"Morning," she whispers back.

"Did ya sleep okay?"

"Yeah," she sighs, as she holds onto him. Then all of a sudden in sinks in where's she's at and who she's clinging onto. "Oh my God," she cries out as she jumps away from him as quickly as she can, causing him to grunt out in pain as she pushes off on his chest with her hand, "Oh Leo. I'm so sorry. I…"

"Margaret I'm… fine," he tries to convince her, even though his brow is furrowed in pain.

"I didn't mean to… and your chest… oh my God," Margaret continues to rant as she starts to pace.

Leo sits up too quickly, causing himself even more pain, "Damnit Margaret," he roars as he grabs his chest. "Will you just stop it," he manages to get out through clenched teeth.

Margaret abruptly stops when she notices Leo holding his chest. She rushes to his side, "Leo, are you okay? Did I hurt you?" She asks in a panic, as she places a hand on his leg.

Leo looks at her with pained filled eyes. He's more hurt that she found lying next to him so repulsive that she immediately jerked away after waking up. The pain from his incision is nothing compared to the heartache he feels.

"Oh, Leo, I'm so sorry… I never meant to hurt you. I lo…" Margaret immediately stops.

Leo looks at her, "You what, Margaret?"

"Nothing. Are you sure, you're all right? Should we check your incision? Are you in a lot of pain? Oh Leo, I'm so sorry. I just… I would… never… I didn't…" she nervously stammers.

Leo reaches up with both hands and tenderly takes Margaret's face in his hands. He gently pulls her face towards him and kisses her ever so softly on the lips.

Margaret is shocked by Leo's actions. She pulls back, brings a hand to her face and touches her lips, "Why did you do that?"

"To get you to shut up," he smirks, "and… to let you know that I love you too." He smiles.

"You… love me?" She whispers back to him as a smile grows on her face. She waited for years to hear him say that.

"Yes and I think you feel the same way about me too, at least that's what I think you almost admitted a little bit ago," he offers.

"Well… I do," she slightly bobs her head.

"Good, so how about some breakfast?" He asks, as he takes a hold of her hand and brings it to his lips and kisses it.

"Just like that," she tilts her head and gives him a puzzled look that slowly turns into a smile.

"Yeah… I'm hungry," he explains, "and we can talk some more over stuffed French toast." Leo stands and holds out a hand to Margaret.

"French toast?" Her voice goes soft.

"Yeah," he replies.

"Okay."

"Great, I'll meet you out in the living room in a couple of minutes," he informs her as he gives her hand a squeeze.

"Okay" she says, as she looks down at their joined hands and then back up at Leo. "I'll order some breakfast for us and make some coffee. Do you want tomato juice, too?"

"Yeah and I want some of that stuffed French toast you're always going on about."

"Strawberry topping?"

"Yeah," he smiles, as he releases her soft hand.

----------

"Hmm… that smells good," Leo says, wrapping his arms around Margaret from behind.

"Hmm… and that feels good," she replies, loving the way his arms feel around her body.

"How come your coffee always tastes so much better than what I make? I buy the same brand, but it just never tastes like yours."

"I don't know Leo. Maybe you're coffee challenged," she laughs, as she turns in his arms.

"You're a funny girl," he whispers against her neck.

"You mean I'm no longer a good girl," she coos back.

"Shuddup and kiss me," Leo mumbles, as he encircles her with his arms.

"Okay," she gets out just before Leo's lips press against hers.

----------

When breakfast arrives, they sit down side by side at the table and enjoy their food. Both of them are fairly quiet, but they keep touching each other, almost as if they are afraid that their confessions of love this morning were only a dream.

After a while, Margaret gives Leo a nervous smile, "What?" Leo asks as he touches her hand.

"Are you sure about this?"

"This?" Leo motions between the two of them.

"Yeah, about us."

"I should be the one asking you that," he smiles.

"I'm sure. I've loved you for years," she confesses.

"Me too," he whispers, taking her hand and kissing it.

They finish their breakfast and are on their way to the couch, when Leo pulls her over to the set of French doors that lead out onto the balcony. He wraps his arms around her and starts kissing her. They stand there for several moments until Leo is forced to lower his arms due to the strain on his incision.

"Do you need to sit down?" Margaret asks.

"Yeah," Leo says, taking Margaret by the hand and guiding her to the couch. He sits in the corner of the couch and gently pulls Margaret down next to him. He positions himself so that he's facing her and starts his assault on her lips again.

"Leo," she says, pulling away for a breath, "Should we… be doing this?"

"I don't see why not. Especially since, we've finally told each other how we feel."

"No, I didn't mean that. I meant… you know… your heart."

"Margaret," he sighs. "It's fine," he informs her as he takes her hand and places it on his chest letting her feel it beat. "See."

"I just don't want…"

"Shh… don't worry about it. You're going to have to trust me."

"I do… I just... it's," Margaret's eyes fill with tears.

"Baby, don't cry, really I'm fine," he reaches out and gently wipes the tears from her face.

"Oh Leo, I came so close to losing you and it hurt so bad that I couldn't tell you how much I loved you," she says as she dissolves into tears.

"Shh… Baby, it's over with. Please don't cry," Leo says, as he pulls her into his arms and runs his fingers through her hair. Leo continues to hold her like this for a long time, letting her get it all out of her system. He realizes now just how much this has affected Margaret. He places soft reassuring kisses in her hair and repeatedly tells her that he loves her.

Eventually, Margaret raises her head and looks at Leo with her tear stained face, "Leo, I'm…"

"Don't say it Margaret," he interrupts as he reaches out with a hand, touching her face, and traces her jaw line with his fingertips.

Margaret bobs her head and leans against him, "Are you comfortable? Do we need to get up and switch places?"

"Nah, I'm fine. We're okay for a while like this," he whispers.

After a few more minutes though, Leo needs to change positions, "Margaret." He whispers.

"Hmm…" A half-asleep Margaret mumbles.

"I hate to do this, but I need to get up," he sighs, into her hair.

"Leo, why didn't you say something?" She quickly clamors, carefully getting up off him.

"I just did," he smiles.

"Okay," she sweetly smiles in return as she gets up from the couch and offers him a hand.

"Thanks." Leo stands, "I'll be back in a couple of minutes. I think I'll get out of these," he motions at his pajamas.

"Me, too," Margaret says, as she walks over to her bedroom.

----------

They spend the rest of the morning on the couch. Leo works on some crossword puzzles, and Margaret reads a book. Both of them are quiet, but they do share occasional glances and knowing smiles. They are quite content just to be sitting side-by-side, shoulders touching and holding hands.

----------

"Margaret it doesn't look like rain, so lets go to the park today." He says, after he looks out the balcony doors.

"Okay," she replies, happy that she doesn't have to force him to take his walk this time.

They put on their coats and head out the door. When they get to the street, Leo offers Margaret his arm and she slides hers though it.

"What's the name of the park?" Margaret asks, as they cross the street.

"I don't know."

"You'd better not let the President hear you say that, or you'll be in for a lecture," she laughs knowing she is right.

"Yeah, just what I need," he softly laughs.

They reach the park, and Margaret stops just outside the ivy covered archway, "Oh, Leo, this is beautiful."

"Yeah, Mallory likes it, too."

"I never knew this was even here."

"Me either," Leo adds, as he pulls her closer to him.

"How did you find it?" Margaret asks even though she is pretty sure of the answer.

"Mallory asked the doorman about places close by to walk to and he recommended this," Leo motions.

Margaret gives Leo a pointed look, "You mean to tell me that you've lived here for almost seven years and you never knew this beautiful park was a couple of blocks away."

"Yeah… well… in my defense it was usually dark when I left for work and most times even darker when I came home. Plus, my guy usually drove me and I never pay attention when I'm not driving."

"Well, those days are over. You don't need to sacrifice your health anymore. There are others to help you and to take over where you left off. You need to think of yourself first from now on."

"I don't know if I know how to be any other way," Leo softly admits as he glances down at his shoes.

"Well, you're going to have to learn or I will go to the President and have him fire you."

"He already did that," slips from his mouth.

"What?" Margaret almost yells.

"At Camp David, we had another strong willed discussion about Gaza and well..." Leo tries to explain.

"He fired you?" An exasperated Margaret growls.

"Yeah, but…" Leo lowers his eyes again, wishing he could take back the last few seconds.

"But nothing, Leo. How the hell could he do that to you after all you've sacrificed for him? You almost died because of that damn job!"

"Margaret, I had been pushing him and we didn't agree on how to deal with the aftermath of Gaza. I told him that my council was of no value to him. He took it as a threat and told me to find someone to replace me."

"I still can't believe he would do that to you. Not after…" Margaret abruptly stops. "Leo, when did he fire you?"

"That doesn't matter," Leo tries to convince her.

"Leo?"

"That last night at… Camp David," Leo whispers, as he looks off to his left and then back at her.

"Leo is that why you… walked out into the woods?"

Leo nods his head, "Margaret my getting fired did not cause my heart attack. We've already covered this. It's no one's fault, but mine. I didn't take care of myself, and I ignored all the signs. I thought I was invincible and that it couldn't happen to me. But I was… wrong," he says sadly.

"But…"

"No, Jed feels terrible about this and I've tried to tell him that he didn't cause it, but he's just as stubborn as you," Leo informs her, taking her in his arms. "Margaret that day in the hospital when I woke up from surgery, he tried to get me to stay, I'm the one who told him he needed a new Chief of Staff. I resigned."

"I'm not stubborn," Margaret implies, realizing that Leo is right, but she still isn't happy that it happened. Leo has dedicated his life to this President. His best friend. But, she decides that it's best just to let it go. She's just found what she needs and that's what's important right now. That and getting Leo healthy again.

"Okay, if you say so," Leo smirks, as he takes her arm and guides her under the archway.

"I'm not."

"Okay," he laughs, as he guides her on his normal pattern through the park.

They have only been walking a few yards when Margaret takes a deep breath, "Oh Leo, I love that smell."

Leo does the same and all of a sudden; he stops walking. The smell of wet leaves triggers some powerful memories that he would prefer to permanently forget. His breath catches as he remembers the immense pain in his chest, the falling to the ground, and the gasping for air, the loneliness and the waiting.

Margaret hears Leo's gasp and sees him grow pale, "Leo, are you okay? What is it?"

Leo brings a hand to his chest in an attempt to calm his rapidly beating heart.

"Leo," she shrieks, as she helps him to a park bench that is just a few feet away. She makes him sit down, "Leo, are you having another heart attack?" She asks, as she fumbles with her coat pocket, desperately trying to get her cell phone out.

"No," he pants, as he reaches out with his hand to stop her from calling anyone.

"Leo, what's going on?" She demands.

"I… need to get… back to the hotel," he says, as he suddenly stands.

"Leo, you're scaring me," she cries out, as she joins his side.

"Please Margaret, I have to get out of here," he yells back at her, as he heads for the archway.

"Leo, slow down," she implores as she catches up with him and takes him by the arm.

Leo refuses to look at her as they head quickly back to the hotel. They enter the hotel, cross the lobby to the bank of elevators and then up to his room. Once they get inside his suite, Leo makes a beeline for his bedroom, slamming the door behind him.

Margaret stands in the living room wondering what the hell has just happened. She takes off her coat, throws it over the back of the chair and heads fro his bedroom door, "Leo, what's going on?"

"Go away," he yells from the other side of the door.

"I won't," she says, as she opens the door and finds Leo sitting on his bed.

"Margaret," he implores, "please."

"Leo, tell me what's going on and tell me right now or so help me I'm calling for an ambulance to come haul your butt back to the hospital."

"I don't need… an ambulance or the hospital."

"Well then just what the hell do you need?" She asks. "Leo, I can't help you if you don't talk to me. You've kept things bottled up inside too many years and look where it's gotten you."

Leo is surprised by the anger in Margaret's voice, "I…" He wants to tell her, but he's afraid to open up.

"Leo, please," she begs, as she sits down next to him on the bed.

"The leaves…" he whispers.

"What about the leaves, Leo?" Her voice softens.

"The smell of… wet leaves… it reminded me… of the… woods."

"Oh Leo, it's okay. You're safe now," she says as she pulls him into her arms.

"I felt the pain again… felt the dampness of the ground. I… didn't think… anyone was going to … find me…" Leo whispers in a raspy voice as a tear rolls down his face.

"Oh God, Leo. I wish I had been there for you," Margaret feels Leo's chest heave with a muted sob.

"I… felt like I was… back in NAM, lying on the damp ground, covered with leaves." Leo looks into Margaret's eyes and sees nothing but love and kindness. He realizes he needs to tell her everything. "The leaves… Kenny would hide me in leaves while he'd go look for water. I'd lie there just waiting to be… captured. That musty wet leafy smell… When I smelled it in the park… memories came flooding back about my heart attack and NAM… and I… panicked…" He starts to sob. He has held this in for too long and can't control it anymore.

Margaret doesn't know what to say, so she just tightly holds him in her arms and lets him cry. She moves them so that they are lying down and holds him close as she whispers words of love into his ear. Eventually, Leo's calms down and he falls asleep in Margaret's protective arms before she lets herself relax and fall asleep too.

----------

A couple hours later, Leo wakes up. He has a pounding headache from all the emotions that have surfaced today. He wants to stay in the safety and comfort of Margaret's arms, but he needs to get up and use the bathroom. He tries to untangle himself from Margaret without waking her.

Margaret opens her eyes when she feels Leo pull from her arms, "Leo?"

"Yeah," he replies, looking down at her.

"You okay?" She asks in a soft voice.

"Yeah… I umm… just need to a…" He hesitates and then points towards his bathroom door.

"Okay, don't let me hold you up," she smirks.

"Very funny, Margaret," he scoffs.

Margaret lies there for a few moments, and then gets up from bed, stretches before she heads to the kitchen for something to drink.

"Do you need something for your headache?" Margaret asks, after Leo emerges from his bedroom.

"How'd ya know I had a headache?"

Margaret gives Leo a sad smile, "Let's just say from experience."

Leo nods his head in understanding and then informs her, "There's some Tylenol in the cupboard over the sink. I'll take two please."

"Here," she hands him a bottle of water and two pills.

"Thanks."

"Are you feeling better? Well… I mean besides the headache," she rubs his back as he swallows his pills.

"Yeah… I am. Thanks."

"I'm sorry about yelling at you earlier, but I just…"

Leo put a finger to her lips, "Margaret, it's fine. Let's not spend the rest of the day worrying about it."

"Okay, I'll try. But, it's a hard habit to break with you," she smiles.

"You worry too much," he offers with a smirk of a grin.

"Well, stop giving me reasons to worry," she counters.

"Okay, I'll try. Hey, ya wanta watch a movie?"

"Sure, what's on?"

"I don't know," he answers, moving towards to couch. "But if we can't find something we can always rent one."

"We're not renting a movie from the hotel movie service. They charge $12.95 for a movie. That's outrageous!" She says, shaking her head as she takes a seat next to him on the couch.

"I can afford it," he grins.

"Yeah, I'm sure you can, but it's the principle. I'm sure we can find something on one of the other movie channels you get."

"Okay… Okay, you win," he softly laughs, as he turns on the TV and starts to search for something for them to watch.

----------

They spend the rest of the afternoon and evening on the couch. Neither of them have much energy after the draining walk they took earlier today. They get up occasionally, but for the most part they talk, watch movies, eat and cuddle on the couch. Margaret learns more about Leo in these few hours than she has in all of these years working for him. He finally opens up and tells her everything there is to know about the real Leo McGarry and she loves him even more for it.

When its time to go to bed, Margaret is unsure of where she should sleep. She's spent the last two nights in Leo's room but she doesn't want to presume that she will spend it with him again. She's unsure of what Leo wants, so her insecurities get the better of her.

When Leo comes out of the bathroom, he looks at a hesitant Margaret, "Ready for bed?" He asks with a smile, as he motions her to join him in bed.

"Yeah," she shyly smiles as she walks around to the other side of his bed and crawls underneath the covers, as Leo turns out the lights.

Leo reaches for Margaret, and she slides over next to him, brushing a kiss against his cheek. She turns on her side and carefully places a hand on his chest, moving her fingers through the opening of his pajama top and touches his skin.

Leo lightly moans at her touch and presses his lips to hers. Margaret willingly parts her lips, allowing Leo to fully explore her mouth. They hungrily kiss, while their hands roam each other's bodies.

Suddenly, Leo pulls from her arms, "Margaret, umm… we need… to stop."

"Oh Leo, I'm sorry. We're going to fast. I…"

"No baby, it's not that at all. I umm… well the doctor hasn't cleared me for umm… certain activities, yet," he softly says, as he lowers his eyes. He desperately wants to make love to her and is embarrassed that he can't right now.

"Oh," Margaret blushes, then notices Leo face. She reaches out with her fingertips and turns his face towards her. "Leo, it's okay. We're in no hurry. I love you. We need to wait until the doctor clears you. Besides, there's no reason to rush things."

Leo's heart melts at the sincerity in Margaret's voice, "I love you too and someday I'll show you just how much."

"I know you will," she coos into his ear.

"I have a doctor's appointment next week. Would you like to go with me? Maybe we can ask him together?" Leo asks with a lopsided smile. He's so happy to have someone to share things with. He never realized until recently just how much he's missed that.

"If you'd like. Are you sure?" Margaret asks.

"Yeah," he places a kiss on her nose.

Margaret snuggles against Leo's side and lays her hand on his shoulder. "Okay, then I'll go. I might have some questions for him too."

They quietly lay in bed for a couple of minutes. Both of them thinking about the future.

"So, do ya wanta tell people?" Leo breaks the comfortable silence.

"Tell them what?"

"About us," he softly laughs.

"What do you want to do," she asks, unsure of what she really wants to do. It's still so new, but part of her wants to tell the world.

"I'd like to tell Mallory, Abbey and… the President," he suggests as he strokes her soft hair.

"That's sounds good to me. The others can wait, because I want you all to myself for a while," she softly murmurs against his neck.

"I can deal with that," Leo places a kiss in her hair.

"Leo?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

"Night," she kisses him.

"Night," he returns her kisses as they snuggle further into the bed and soon drift off to sleep.

----------

Margaret wakes up and is surprised to find Leo still asleep. It's almost nine thirty. She happily sighs at how relaxed his face looks. Sometime during the night, Margaret draped her leg over him. She catches herself from giggling aloud when she realizes that Leo must really be enjoying having her leg resting on him, because he's fully awake below the waist. She leans up and kisses his face. She just can't resist touching or kissing him.

"Morning," Leo mumbles.

"Leo, you're awake," she says, as she moves her leg off him.

"Yeah… in more ways than one," he grins.

"So… I see," she giggles, looking at the peak in the sheets.

"Very funny," he shakes his head at her.

"Are you okay?" She asks, never withdrawing her eyes from the sheets.

"Margaret, are you going to ask me that every time this happens, cause if so, you're going to be asking it a lot, apparently."

"Apparently?"

"Yeah, I had a similar reaction to your arm, yesterday morning."

"Sorry," she blushes.

"I'm not. I rather enjoyed it, plus it was… umm… well it was the first time since my surgery that it's happened," he confesses.

"Really?"

"Yeah, 'apparently' you bring the best out in me," he laughs as he takes her in his arms.

"Glad to help," she replies as she captures his lips with hers. They both are too busy enjoying themselves to hear the knock on his hotel door or the door to his suite opening.

"Daddy," Mallory calls as she enters her father's hotel room. She's surprised not to find Margaret or her father up and moving about. She notices that both bedroom doors are closed, and she sighs. She had hoped that her father would finally see the light and maybe tell Margaret how he feels about her. That's one of the main reasons she wanted Margaret to come stay with him. "Daddy," she calls out again as she opens her father's bedroom door.

"Good morning Daddy, Margaret," she smirks, after she discovers them kissing in bed.

"Hey Baby, back so soon," Leo comments with smile, as Margaret quickly ducks under the covers.

"Yes… and I see now," she motions towards the bed, "that there was no reason for me to rush over here and relieve Margaret from taking care of you. She seems to have matters… well in hand," Mallory grins.

"Hey Mal," Margaret peeks her head above the covers.

"It's about time you two got a clue," Mallory informs them with smile.

"You knew," Leo asked in a surprised voice.

"I… suspected. I just never thought you would do something about it, but I umm... guess I was wrong," she smirks.

"You're fine with this?" Margaret asks.

"Oh yes, Margaret. I'm very happy for you two. Besides, I can use all the help I can get with keeping Daddy inline."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Margaret agrees.

"He doesn't make an easy patient, does he?"

"I hear that," Margaret laughs.

"Hey," Leo speaks up. "You two do realize I'm still in the room, right?" Leo smiles.

"Yes," they say in unison.

"Great," Leo slightly pouts as he sinks lower into his bed.

"Why don't you two get decent and we can order some breakfast from room service," Mallory suggests. "I don't know about you two, but I'm hungry."

"How about, I take you two beautiful red heads out somewhere for breakfast?" Leo offers, as he slowly sits up in bed.

"You want to go out to a restaurant and eat?" Mallory asks, with surprise showing in her voice.

"Yeah," Leo smiles.

"Oh Margaret, I love you. You've finally gotten Daddy to come out of his shell. I haven't been able to get him to go anywhere since his surgery."

"Mallory," Leo rumbles.

"What'd I say," she laughs. "Oh and Margaret, after we get back from breakfast, we're going to sit down and talk about what your intentions are towards my father," Mallory proclaims in her best parental voice.

"Mallory Ann," Leo growls, as Margaret laughs.

"Daddy, I thought you said you were not a threat right now to anyone… and so I go away for a couple of days, and then come back only to find you kissing a beautiful woman… in your bed."

"Young lady, you're lucky I'm not able to get out of bed right now or…"

"Oh Daddy, why can't you get out of bed right now? Are you having some trouble? Do you need me to help you," she starts towards the bed.

Margaret ducks her head back under the covers, "Tell me when she's gone," she laughs.

"Mallory don't take another step," Leo quickly implores. "I'm fine and if I need some help, Margaret can do it."

"Oh I'm sure she can," Mal smirks with a huge grin.

"Mallory," Leo grouses, as he shakes his head.

"Okay… okay. I'll go wait in the living room for you two, but if you take too long I'll come back in here and get you out of that bed," she teases, as she heads for the door. She suddenly stops and turns, "Oh and Daddy?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you and I'm so happy for you two."

"Thanks Baby, we'll be right out."

"Margaret, she's gone," he laughs, as he pulls the covers off her and kisses the top of her head.

"You two are terrible."

"Yeah, I guess we are."

"True, but I love you both, very much," Margaret kisses him.

"Well… we'd better get up and get ready. I want to find out why she's back a day earlier than planned." Leo says in a slightly worried voice.

"Jenny?"

"Yeah, probably," Leo sighs.

"Do you want to go out to breakfast by yourselves?" Margaret wonders out loud.

"Nah, I want my two best girls with me."

"Okay," she says, watching Leo get out of bed.

"Come on," Leo offers her a hand. "Let's go get some clothes on and find out what happened between Mallory and her mother."

"Okay, so you want me to stay in here while you talk with her." Margaret offers.

"No, I want you by my side."

"Okay, I like being there," she smiles, as he pulls her into his arms.

"Me, too," he replies as he kisses her.

----------

"Mallory," Leo says, as he walks over to his daughter with Margaret by his side, holding his hand.

"Hey, Daddy, Margaret," she looks up from the magazine that she was reading. "You look so much better than you did when I left. Margaret is so good for you," she smiles.

"Yes, she sure is," Leo affirms as he squeezes Margaret's hand. "Mallory, I wanted to talk with you about why you're home a day earlier than planned. Do you mind if Margaret stays?"

"No, of course I don't mind," Mallory answers, putting the magazine down on the coffee table.

"Okay," Leo sits down on the couch next to his daughter and Margaret takes a seat next to Leo. "So?"

"Well… it wasn't going too bad until Mom overheard me make a comment after I had tried to get a hold of you on my cell phone, Friday."

"We were probably out walking," Margaret comments.

"What did you say?" Leo asks Mallory.

"Something along the lines of, 'He's fine, I'm sure Margaret's taking good care of him.' I didn't know she was standing there. I was just worried, because I had been calling for around thirty minutes or so and…"

"We weren't walking the whole time," Leo quickly glances at Margaret. "We sat on a park bench for a while."

Mallory looks at Margaret who is bobbing her head in agreement. The glance that is exchanged between her father and Margaret makes her think that it was more than just a break on a bench, but she's not going there right now. "When Mom heard my comment, she launched off into a rant and rave about how you… well you can guess what she was angry about."

"How I was never there for…" Leo lowers his eyes.

"Daddy, I don't feel that way. Look… besides, the past is the past. Things are so different now."

"Baby, I'm so sorry… I…" He feels terrible that she is stuck in the middle of that whole mess.

"Daddy, don't," she implores as she lays a hand on his knee.

"But, still…"

"Leo, you have to stop punishing yourself for the past. It wasn't all your fault, " Margaret pleads as she rubs his back.

"Daddy, Margaret's right. I grew up in that house. I know how things were."

"Okay… okay," he sighs. "If you two are going to gang up on me, I guess I have no recourse but to listen."

"You bet your…"

"Margaret," Leo growls, as he shakes his head at her. Leo then looks back at his daughter, "Mallory, I know more than that was said to make you leave early, cause we've both heard that from your Mother for years. Baby," Leo takes her hand, "what else happened?"

Mallory looks over at Margaret and then back to her father, "She accused you and Margaret of having an affair for years."

"She what!" Leo yells as he jumps up off the couch. This sudden movement causes him pain, and it immediately shows on his face.

"Daddy," Mallory says as she jumps up.

"Leo," Margaret says as she too jumps up from the couch.

"I'm fine," Leo breathes out, as he holds his chest, trying to get the pain to stop. "Mallory we never I mean…"

"Daddy, please calm down. I never, for one second, thought it was true. I got right in her face and told her that, too. I know you two." She informs him as she makes him sit back down.

"Leo, are you sure you're okay?" Margaret asks, joining him on the couch. "Is it your incision?"

"Yeah," he answers, as he starts to calm down. "Baby, it's true that I've loved Margaret for years, but it was after the divorce that I discovered that I was 'in love' with her. I never…"

"Daddy, I know that. I never once thought that and besides, Margaret would never have been able to look me in the eye. She would have given herself away," Mallory looks at Margaret and smiles. "Why do you think I suspected she loved you? She isn't that great at hiding things from me."

"Mallory, I have been 'in love' your father for years. I cared for him deeply when he was married, but… it wasn't until after…" Margaret stops and lowers her eyes.

"Margaret, after what?" Leo softly asks, turning towards her.

"The shooting… That's when I realized I loved you," she softly says, laying her head on his shoulder. She'll never forget that hour and a half after the shooting when she didn't know if he was dead or injured.

Leo places a kiss in her hair, "I'm so glad you weren't with me that night," Leo admits.

"I'm not. I went crazy until you called me. I thought…" Margaret vividly remembers how all she could picture in her head that night was him laying on the asphalt covered in blood.

"Yeah, well nothing happened to me then and I'm going to be fine now, too," Leo reassures her as he takes her in his arms and holds her tight.

After a few moments, Leo slowly pulls from Margaret's arms and looks over at Mallory who has a tear in her eye, "Okay, how about some breakfast? I really am hungry."

"Me, too," Mallory says, as she wipes the tear from her eye.

"Leo, I hope they have French toast wherever you're taking us." Margaret says, with a smile.

"Margaret, you need to branch out, try different things." Leo suggests.

"This from the man who orders tomato juice every morning for breakfast," Margaret quips.

"Hey, I happen to love tomato juice."

"Yeah, so I've heard, Daddy, several times I might add," Mallory laughs.

"Hey, it's not nice to pick on someone who's just had major surgery," he advises with a smile.

"Didn't seem to be slowing you down this morning in bed," Margaret smirks.

"Okay, I give. I should know better than to try and argue with you both at the same time," he says as he stands. "Come on ladies. I want to take my two favorite girls out for breakfast."

"Okay," Mallory and Margaret say in unison, as they stand and get their coats.

Once they get outside the hotel, the doorman hails a cab for them. Leo holds the door for them as Mallory and Margaret get in, "Hey, if it's still this nice when we get back, let's go for a walk to the park."

Margaret hesitates before she gets into the cab, "Are you sure Leo?" She asks, laying a hand on his arm.

"Yeah, cause with you by my side, I can get through anything," he whispers to her, just before he captures her lips in a kiss.

"Will you two stop it and get in here," Mallory calls to them, from the inside of the cab. "You two are worse than teenagers."

"Okay, okay… we're coming," Leo groans, as he takes Margaret's hand and helps her into the cab. Leo gets into the cab next to her and whispers into her ear, "I can't wait for my doctor's appointment next week."

"Me, too," she whispers back, as the cab pulls away from the curb.

"Me, too," Mallory laughs, having overheard their not so quite whispers.

"Mallory," Leo growls.

"Hey, can I help it if you guys can't whisper softly enough. After we get back from breakfast and take a walk, I think I'll go home. I have a lot of things to catch up on at my apartment and now that Daddy has you," she looks at Margaret, "maybe I can find the time to start dating again. I want to have what you two have finally found. I miss that in my life."

"Just as long as he doesn't play hockey," Leo proclaims with a frown.

"Hey," Mallory shakes her head at her father. She'd say more to him, but she's so happy that he's starting to act like his old self that she doesn't mind him picking on her boyfriends.

"Leo, leave her alone or do I need to bring up… Jordan," Margaret practically spits out her name, as she rolls her eyes and gives Mallory a wicked smile.

"Okay, I give. You two win," Leo shakes his head.

"You bet your ass," Mallory pipes in.

"Mallory, you've been hanging around Margaret too much."

"I could say the same about you, too. But I like the effect she has on you," Mallory informs her father.

"Yeah, I do too," Leo agrees, as he takes Margaret's hand and squeezes it. "And I plan on spending a lot more time with her, too. That is, if you'd like?" He turns towards Margaret, as he asks her.

"Oh I like alright," she says, as she leans in and kisses him.

"Margaret, I know this is sudden, but… I want you to… move in with me. I never want to spend another night not waking up in your arms," Leo asks, forgetting that his daughter is in the cab with them.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Okay," she bobs her head. "But can we think about moving into an apartment or condo?" Margaret requests.

"We can start looking today, if you'd like?" Leo informs her.

"Yes, Leo, I'll move in with you," she answers.

Leo turns to his daughter and asks, "Is all of this okay with you?"

"More than okay. I couldn't be happier for you two," she gives her father a sweet smiles. "And, can I add, it's about time you moved out of that damned hotel," she smirks.

"I second that," Margaret adds.

"Is this how it's always going to be from now on, you two ganging up on me?" Leo wonders out loud.

"Pretty much," Margaret says.

"That's what I'm thinking, too." Mallory adds.

"Great, just great," Leo says.

"Yeah and you love it," Mallory observes.

"Yeah, I do," Leo agrees with an impish grin. "Hey… we're here." Leo comments as the cab slows and pulls to the curb. "Come on ladies let's go eat," Leo says, as he steps out of the cab and helps them both out and guides them towards the entrance of the restaurant.

"Daddy," Mallory touches his arm, causing him to stop and face her as Margaret continues towards the entrance.

"Yeah, Baby."

"I love you and I'm so glad you have Margaret in your life in this new way."

"Me, too," Leo kisses his daughter on the cheek. "I'm so lucky to have both you and her in mine."

Margaret pauses at the door and looks back at the tender scene between Leo and his daughter. She can't believe how quickly her life has changed for the better. She gives Leo a smile, after he notices her watching them. Leo walks up to her, with Mallory holding onto his arm, and he offers Margaret his other arm she takes it and they head off to breakfast and their future together.

The End.


End file.
